Despicable Days
by DP-shrine-in-closet-girl
Summary: Gru attempts to fill his role as a father while the girls settle into their permanent family. However, with a super villain father and three girls with wildly independent spirits, no task is simple and no day is boring.
1. First day

Despicable Days

Disclaimer: Despicable Me belongs to Illumination Entertainment. Congratulations to them for having their first movie be such a big success! Oh, and Universal Studios too!

**This isn't exactly a day-by-day massive fic. It's more like a collection of one-shots (some of which are going to be pretty long) that all have to do with the Gru's new family after the movie. I also want to encourage others to write some Despicable Me fanfiction! You might have seen this fic on deviantart, but I wanted to put it here too. **

**I wasn't going to write in Gru's accent at first, but the dialogue seemed to be lacking something so I had to put it in. So, just go with me on the spelling, it's not technically correct, but I hope it will make the story feel more real. And it's hard, because it's not so heavily a Russian accent that 'where' is 'vhere', but it's still prominent enough that I wanted to show it somehow. **

**Warning: Please do not read this until after you see the movie! It's such a good film and I don't want to be the one to ruin it for you.**

Chapter 1: First Day

"Edith? Where are you?" Margo called as she made her way through the maze of a mansion she lived in. She had lived in this house for a little over four months and she still didn't think she had been in all the rooms. The house's large structure sure made hide-and-seek a blast though.

She called out her sister's name a few more times, but received no reply. Edith couldn't be found in any of her usual places and Margo was starting to think she wouldn't find the seven-year-old in the house. With a sigh, Margo headed back down stairs. She knew she should have checked there first; after all, it was Edith's favorite hangout.

A secret entrance and some overly dramatic high-tech machinery later, Margo found herself in the basement of the house, otherwise known as the secret lair. If she thought the house was confusing, it was nothing compared to the lair. The few times she and her sisters had been down here they had mostly stuck with their father, and usually only visited the main room and the inventing room. This was the first time she had been here by herself, and it was much more intimidating alone. Margo was relieved when she saw one of her father's minions coming around the corner.

"Fred! Hi! Have you seen Edith anywhere around here?" In the beginning Margo couldn't understand how her father knew all the minions by name; they all looked the same to her. However, as time passed she started to get to know a few of them and their different personalities.

Fred looked up at her in confusion, and she knew why. She and her sisters weren't exactly allowed down here unsupervised. "bodakada ne?"

Although her father seemed to be able to understand his minions most of the time, Margo had to guess at what they were saying. Sometimes it was obvious and other times not so much.

Having no idea what he asked, Margo did her best to answer. "I know I'm not supposed to be here, but I have to find Edith. We are going to be late for-"

A loud discharge was heard from a few rooms away, cutting her off.

"Never mind, I think I found her!" And with that Margo went racing off towards the explosion, hoping her younger sister was alright.

When she entered the large room where the blast had come from, Margo realized she had never been in here before, and for good reason. The walls were lines with hundreds of the most elaborate guns, rays, and missile launchers imaginable. The oldest sibling went slack-jawed at sheer number of weapons her father possessed. It was cool, but also a little scary he needed so many. As she continued in the room, she was torn between shivering with unease and actually admiring the collection.

When she reached the end of the room, her attention was directed towards a figure decked in pink who was attempting to remove a large gun from the wall.

"Edith! What are you doing? Don't play with that!" She rushed towards her little sister and pulled her away from the dangerous weapon that could do who-knows-what.

"Hey! Let me go!" Edith protested against her sister's grip. "I just want to try it!"

"No way, it's dangerous! You don't know what it does." She yelled back, still struggling to hold the girl.

"Duh, that's why I want to see it!"

Margo sighed. "You're not even supposed to be down here without Dad."

"Neither are you!" Edith pointed out, finally managing to pull herself from her sister's grip, but thankfully she didn't make a move for the gun again.

"I'm only here because I was looking for you! Now come on, we are going to be late for school if you don't hurry."

Edith crossed her arms. "I don't want to go."

Margo sighed and rubbed her temple in frustration. "I know you don't, but everyone has to go to school."

"Why can't we just stay home with Dad?"

Margo smiled a little at the idea, school had never been fun for her and her sisters, and staying home with their new father sounded like a much more agreeable choice. However, she knew she had to be the big sister and do what was best for her siblings.

"Come on Edith, school can be fun."

Her little sister snorted in amusement.

"Okay, I know last year wasn't the best…" Margo admitted, "Or the year before that, but things are different now, really really different, aren't they?"

Reluctantly, her little sister nodded her head, a small smile on her lips.

"And school can be different too if you give it a chance. So come on, please?" She held out her hand, but her sister just stared at it blankly. Margo decided to try one last thing; this was the reasoning she used to gather up enough courage for herself, and she hoped it would work for her sister as well.

"And even if school is bad… it's not the end of the world. We can just come home and forget all about it, all we have to do is make it through the day."

Margo watched her sister consider her words, and with a hesitant nod, Edith seemed to accept her logic. This time they wouldn't be going home to a lonely orphanage with a cruel Miss. Hattie. No, this time when the school bell rang they would really be going _home._

Margo and Edith took the lift back up to the house where their father had finished making their lunches.

"Here yoo go gurls." Their adoptive father said in his strange accent. "Peanut butter and jellee for Margo, ham and cheese for Edith, and peanut butter and banana for Agnes."

Margo and her sisters took their respective paper bagged lunches.

Even though she was feeling nervous about her first day she found herself beaming up at her father. "Thanks, Dad." She just _loved_ calling him that. Dad. She had a dad, and so did her sisters.

And although he was nothing like what she expected… she couldn't imagine having anyone else, at least not anymore. The perfect mother and father that her and her sisters used to dream of were nothing compared to what they had now.

Margo knew that out of her sisters, she was the only one old enough to really understand how different her dad was. Agnes and Edith barely blinked at the secret lair, the dozens of minions running around, and the gadgets created for nefarious purposes. She, on the other hand, was able to understand much better what her father meant when he first told them he wasn't a spy, but a super villain. She understood that meant he was a 'bad guy', similar to the ones on Saturday morning cartoons. The characters she always rooted against. Her sisters understood this too, but not to the same degree she did. To them, he was the Dad that loved them, the 'good guy' who brought them to ballet and made their favorite sandwiches.

Margo fully understood that he was a villain, someone who made dangerous weapons meant to hurt people, someone who enjoyed causing others pain, who spent their time scheming their next selfish act in order to make themselves rich and famous. Her Dad did all of that, and proudly. Margo could see this clearly, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to care, or fear him as one might expect. This is because she could also see the 'good guy' her sisters' saw, and she couldn't help but love her father not despite his despicable career, but including it. He was a villain that could do anything, even steal the moon, and he chose to be their Father. She was proud of everything he could do, good or bad. And even though the hundreds of weapons and sleeping in bombs could make her uneasy… all she had to do was remember that the villain she lived with was also her _father_, and suddenly, she felt like her and her sisters where the safest kids in the entire world.

"Ready gurls? Let's geet eento dee car." Their father ushered them out of the house after checking each one of them had their backpacks.

All three of them sat quietly in the back, which was unusual for them. Agnes sat hugging her small unicorn plushie (she had been talked out of bringing the big one) tightly to her chest. Margo hadn't wanted Agnes to bring her small unicorn either, for fear of it getting lost or stolen, but it was obvious Agnes needed it. She was too nervous to go without at least one comfort.

Their car pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street. "So, umm, yoo gurls must be excited for school?" Their father asked, and surprisingly he sounded slightly nervous to Margo.

"Yeah Dad, I'm sure today will be a lot of fun." Margo forced a smile in hopes making her sisters feel less nervous.

"Oh, dat's great. Yeah… school… yoo gurls are going to 'ave a good time…"

Margo couldn't ignore how distracted her father sounded. "Are you okay?"

He seemed to shake himself. "Me? I'm great! Nevair been better!" He coughed into his hand awkwardly and changed the subject. "Now, listen gurls, if anything happens… if yoo want teh go home… even a leettle bit, joost call me and I'll come pick yoo up."

Edith's eyes lit up, and she looked ready to ask him to turn the car around immediately, but Margo shot her a pointed look and she closed her mouth.

"Thanks, but we'll be fine. We went to school last year, you know."

"Right, I know, but joost een case… if anything happens..."

Margo seemed to catch on. "Are you… worried about us?" She smirked slightly, enjoying the idea that someone cared enough to be worried about them, even over something as simple as school.

He blinked at the accusation, but then denied it vigorously. "No! Why would I be worried? Eet's joost school! I joost mentioned eet een case yoo t'ree were worried, dat's all."

He denied his accusation far too well, and Margo knew she had been right. She didn't press it though, if her sister knew their father was worried it would only add to their anxiety.

"Here we are." Their father announced, pulling into the school's parking lot. He dented a few cars purposefully before putting it in park.

The four of them headed to the schools entrance. The three girls knew this place well enough to know where their new classrooms were going to be. Their father followed them, his shoulders squared and his hands behind his back. He looked stern, and his eyes were harsh and untrusting. Children and adults alike shrank away as he passed, instinctually sensing his dangerous demeanor.

Margo smirked at the people's reaction to their father and understood their precaution. She remembered a time when she used to feel intimidated by this man, but now the notion was almost laughable. It was hard to fear the man who read her bed time stories and tucked her in at night. However, he was extremely stiff at the moment and his frown seemed glued to his face. He looked like a true villain, and they way he walked behind them… it was almost as if he was their body guard. Margo stifled a giggle as she realized he was acting this way because he didn't know how he should act. Today may have been her first day of fifth grade, but it was also a first for him too.

"Here, this is Agnes's kindergarten class." Margo told them as they walked into the room. The room was a decent size and consisted of abnormally small desks, placemats in the corner, bookshelves to the right, and an assortment of building blocks and toys in the corner across from them. The teacher noticed them walk in, and quickly made her way through the room to great them. She was a big lady with an even larger smile. Her grin only faltered when she got closer to Gru and was able to take in his stern expression and tense posture, but she quickly recovered.

"Hi! I'm Mrs. Waterbottom, its lovely to meet you Mr…"

"Eet's Gru." Margo's father offered awkwardly, casting an unsure glance at his children.

"Lovely! And these must be your daughters! Let's see… you must be my new student, what's your name sweetie?" the teacher asked the only five-year-old among them.

Never afraid in the face of a stranger, Agnes answered the large lady's question without flinching. "Agnes... and I really like unicorns, see?" She showed the teacher her small plushie.

"Aww, aren't you just a peach! You're going to have a lot of fun this year!"

"Really?" Agnes asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Absolutely! We are going to have a scrumdiddlyumptious time!"

"But…" Agnes hesitated. "I don't wanna go."

Throughout the whole conversation, Gru's expression had been unyieldingly severe, but at Agnes's plea his eye's softened as he looked down at his youngest in concern.

"I wanna stay home with Daddy," Agnes requested forcefully, stepping closer to her Dad's legs.

Before Mrs. Waterbottem could say anything Gru was suddenly down on one knee next to Agnes.

"Yoo don't want to go to de school?"

Agnes shook her head and squeezed her stuffed unicorn tighter.

He nodded in understanding, a small triumphant smile on his face, but what he said next made Margo and the teacher's mouths fall open.

"Okay, den yoo don't 'ave to go, yoo can stay home."

"Excuse me?" The teacher asked shrilly, but Gru chose to ignore her.

"Dad!" Margo exclaimed, and was rewarded with his attention. "Agnes has to go to school! It's like… the law!" As soon as she said it, Margo knew it was a stupid argument. After all, what did the world's greatest villain care for what the law said? Before her father could mention something about that, however, she continued. "And she has to learn!"

"So? She can learn et home."

She knew her father meant well, but she was pretty sure he was far from a good teacher. The only thing her and her sisters could learn from being homeschooled is how to concoct an evil plan and build weapons.

"School will be better for her. I don't want to go either, and neither does Edith, but we have too."

"None of yoo want teh go?" Her father looked surprised by the news.

"No way! I hate school!" Edith complained, pulling her beanie down to cover her eyes.

"Den you're not going," Gru decided, standing up.

Desperately, Margo grabbed his hand in a last-ditch effort to make him understand. "Dad, we have to! If we don't then we will be way behind everyone else and we won't do well in high school and we won't get into college and we won't have a future!"

Gru looked at his eldest, slowly considering what she had said. He then looked into the hopeful faces of his younger children, and knew what he had to do, even though it was the last thing he wanted.

"Vhery well, yoo t'ree need to go to school."

"Aww great, thanks Margo!" Edith kicked the floor grumpily.

"But-but-" Agnes protested.

Their father kneeled down on the ground once again and pulled Agnes into his lap. He took Edith's hand and pulled her closer.

"Can I tell yoo t'ree somet'ing?"

Agnes looked up at him with wide-eyes and Edith nodded.

The teacher watched them curiously, but she went completely unnoticed by the strange family.

"I don't like de idea of yoo gurls goeeng teh school eit'er, but I t'ought you wanted to go so I knew I couldn't be stopping you."

"You don't want us to go?" Edith asked, mystified.

Gru shook his head. He hated the idea of school. The three children would be out of his sight for hours every day and he wouldn't be there to help them if something bad happened. They had never been apart for this long… at least not since the day he had given them up, and that had been the worst mistake of his life. He feared he was making another mistake by letting them go to school, for the last time he allowed them to part his girl's lives had been endangered by Vector. It was an irrational fear, he knew, but it didn't make today any easier.

"Sometimes we 'ave to do things we don't want." _Like going to an amusement park with three children you'd rather get rid of…" _And sometimes, yoo might be surprised." _…coming home with cotton candy in your hand and a smile on your face… _"Yoo nevair know, yoo might actually 'ave fun," he finished with a small smile.

Edith crossed her arms. "But school is never fun!"

"Oh come on, Edith!" Margo sighed in frustration. "Just give it another chance."

"Okay, I'll make yoo deal. You gurls go teh school joost for today, and we will see how eet goes. We'll talk 'bout whether or nawt you're going back over peessa tonight."

Agnes brightened up. "Pizza for dinner?"

Their father nodded.

Edith thought about the offer, and then cautiously added her own terms. "Stuffed crust too?"

The man grinned. "But of course, what ot'er kind of peessa would I geet?"

The blond girl smiled and nodded. "Okay, I'll go, but just for today."

Agnes was smiling as well, as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm going to miss you, daddy."

Gru never thought such a small action could still have as immense effect on him as it did the first time. Gently, he hugged her back, noticing how tiny she was in his arms, and he still couldn't believe he was going to leave something so fragile alone in a strange classroom. The more he thought about it, the more he didn't want to let her go.

Margo's laughter finally broke through his thoughts. "Dad, you have to let go," she giggled.

Gru blinked, he had just been stalling without realizing it. "Uhh, of course." He gently set Agnes down on the classroom floor.

Agnes's sad eyes met his, and the look on the small girl's face almost made him change his mind once again. But before he could declare that they were all going home, Margo spoke.

"Hey Agnes, look at that. They have a stuffed unicorn too." Her older sister pointed to the corner.

"Really? Where?" She gasped when she saw it, and before anyone could blink she had crossed the room to go play with it.

Numbly, Gru stood up, still watching Agnes closely.

"Don't worry Mr. Gru, she's going to have a great time." Mrs. Waterbottom assured him.

The Supper Villain nodded and watched her for a few minutes more before taking Edith's hand and leading the two kids out the door.

When they arrived at Edith's third grade classroom, the blonde looked up at her father sternly.

"Remember what you promised."

Her father got down on one knee. "Absolootely, yoo 'ave my word." Gru wasn't eager to break another promise to his children, not after what happened last time.

Edith seemed satisfied with this, and she turned around to enter her classroom when out of nowhere she stopped, as if remembering something important. Quickly she ran back to her dad and threw her arms around his middle. Taken off guard, he slowly returned the gesture. Edith was never as affectionate as Agnes, but she did have her sweeter moments.

The hug ended, and Edith was almost inside the classroom when Margo grabbed her arm, stopping her abruptly.

"Edith, what do you have in your backpack?"

"Umm, nothing," the seven-year-old denied a little too quickly, as she tried to pull herself out of Margo's grip.

Her sister pulled her back. "Seriously, what do you have in there?" Margo grabbed the bag and began unzipping.

Gru suddenly noticed how much fuller Edith's backpack was compared to Margo's. It looked like she was carrying something large and bulky.

"What the-" Margo managed to get the bag open and she reached in to pull out a small ray gun.

She looked at her sister with disbelief. Gru, on the other hand, started laughing…

"Dat's my gurl!" He announced proudly.

"Edith! You can't have this. What were you thinking?" Margo scolded, handling the ray gun carefully.

"Obviously, I was thinking I would freeze people if they go on my nerves, but I was only going to use it for emergencies!" Edith explained, trying to get the gun back from her sister.

"She 'as a point." Gru noted, still snickering to himself.

"Dad! She can't bring a gun to school!"

Gru was finally able to stop laughing. "Yes, yes, I know." He tone became serious as he fixed his gaze on the middle child. "Edith, my weapons are vhery dangerous and I don't want yoo touching 'em."

Edith looked at the floor, grudgingly accepting she had done something wrong.

"So, if yoo want teh use one, let me train yoo how teh shoot properly furst."

Edith instantly brightened, and Margo slapped her forehead.

"You're going to teach me?" Edith asked, bubbling with excitement.

"Sure, I'll be showing yoo after school." Gru was grinning at his daughter's enthusiasm.

"Cool! You're the most awesomest Dad ever!" Edith cheered before running into her classroom, eager to get the day over with so she could go home and learn something that actually interested her.

"You're really going to train a seven-year-old how to use a gun?" Margo asked in disbelief.

Her Dad shrugged. "Eet's safer for 'er to know how to use eet den to wait for 'er to find one and try to teach herself."

Margo had to admit her dad had a point.

"Of course, yoo should learn too."

Margo blinked in surprise and looked down at the weapon in her hands. Carefully, she handed it up to her father, and he tucked it away in his coat pocket.

"Okay… but what about Agnes? She's only five…"

"No problem, I'll start 'er off on somet'ing small." Gru assured Margo, as if it made sense to give a five-year-old a gun at all.

Margo rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the smile spreading across her face. She knew her worries were unfounded. No harm would come to her or her sister, because her father always found a way to keep them safe.

The two of them found her fifth grade classroom easily, and staring at the door Margo felt a jolt of nervousness. School had always been so hard for her and her sisters. They never seemed to fit in, and all the kids and teachers knew they were orphans, so they were treated differently. She hoped things would be different this year, but she didn't know for sure. She wanted to be strong for her sisters, because she knew it was important for them to learn, but the truth was, she was just as scared as them.

She tried to walk forward, but her feet wouldn't move. She remembered the cruel kids from last year, the ones that would tease her and laugh. She knew they would be behind the classroom door waiting for her, and the thought made her hands shake. She was never out right bullied by her classmates, and she never got into a physical confrontation. However, when some kids called her orphan-girl and told her no one would ever want her… that cut deeper than any injury, especially when they said it to her little sisters as well.

When the three orphans heard these insults they would pray even harder the following night, asking God that someone, anyone, would want them. Just so they could prove to themselves that they weren't unlovable.

All of a sudden she felt a hand on her shoulder and the unexpected contact made her jump.

"Margo?" Her Dad's voice was soft as he looked at her in concern.

That little bit of concern was all it took, and her knees turned to jelly. She struggled desperately with her body to keep herself standing. She knew her father could probably feel her shaking now, and he responded by firmly wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Margo was perplexed by her childish reaction, but no matter how stupid she felt, she still couldn't stop herself from leaning into his arm for support.

She really did feel like a child right now, small and helpless. She never allowed herself to act like this in front of Edith and Agnes, especially when she used to be the closest thing they had to a parent. But now that they actually had a father, she didn't have to be so strong anymore… it was okay to feel small and helpless. And perhaps, she didn't have to hide it, at least, not from him.

Gru was taken aback by his eldest actions, and was at a loss of how to help her. So he just kept his arm around her until he felt her finally start to relax.

"Are yoo okay?" he asked, his voice sounded more than just a little concerned this time. Now, he was really frightened.

She pulled away and looked up at him, trying to smile. He made out traces of embarrassment and gratefulness in her features.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I just- just really hate school, that's all."

This explanation didn't alleviate the worry in Gru's eyes. "What's goeeng on Margo? Why ees school so bad? Joost tell me who to use de freeze ray on."

She laughed at his little joke, and at the same time wondered if it was really a joke at all. "No, it's nothing like that. We just don't fit in." She explained, referring to her and her sisters. "We just grew up different from other kids I guess, and no one ever wanted to be friends with us."

"Den don't go teh school," her father pleaded one last time. "It can't be good for yoo eef eet scares you like dis." He was still shaken by the way Margo had almost fallen apart, and he couldn't understand why she would still be willing to go if she knew how hard it was going to be. In a way, he was proud of her. She was a strong girl, and always bravely did what needed to be done. However, it was times like these when her stubbornness frustrated him. He was forced watched his girls face something that truly scared them. And the worst part was: he couldn't be there to help if they needed it.

Margo sighed, wishing she could do what he suggested and never go to school again. However, she couldn't just think about herself. She needed to do what was best for her sisters.

"It's okay Dad, really. It will be hard, but… it won't be as hard as last year. Things are different… things are better now." She looked up at him with admiration, knowing he was the reason things had changed for the better.

Gru didn't look convinced, but he knew Margo couldn't be talked out of something once she made up her mind.

"Okay… eef you're sure." There was a short pause while he thought to himself. "Do you want to take de freeze ray? Just een case?"

It may have not had been his intention, but her father's suggestion made her break out into warm laughter.

"No, just be here at three-fifteen so we can get out of here as soon as possible."

"Three-fifteen? What I'm supposed to do until den?" Her father asked rather childishly.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't know, go do Dad stuff."

"Well, what ees eet dat Dad's do?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, I'm not exactly the expert on that subject." She sighed. "Fine, go do Villain stuff instead. Go… take over the world or something."

"Oh yes, because I joost 'ave a giant death machine lying around dee house waiting for me to use eet." Gru responded sarcastically.

"If you had, then Edith would have destroyed half the house playing with it already. Why don't you ask Uncle Nefario to build one for you? That's his job, right?"

"Dat's what I pay him for I think…" Gru scratched his head, slightly unsure. "But I'll find somet'ing to work on." To be honest Gru hadn't even thought about coming up with another dastardly plot for months now. His whole purpose for living had just shifted drastically, and his career suddenly didn't seem that important at the moment.

"Good, and don't worry about us. I have a feeling today is going to go really well!"

* * *

"This is unacceptable!" The principal glowered at them. "I knew I should have expected something like this from you girls! Every year it's the same thing! I'm going to have a talk with that Mrs. Haitte."

"Actually," Margo corrected. "We don't live at the orphanage anymore. We…" she faltered at first, but then her voice came back stronger than ever, "we have a Dad."

The principle looked surprised, but then her eyes narrowed. "Are you telling lies, Margo?"

Margo was taken aback by the accusation. "No! Why would I make that up? We got adopted a few months ago; you can check your records!"

"Mm hmm, well I'm going to have a talk with whoever comes and gets you, and if no one does then I'm calling Mrs. Haitte about the two of you."

Edith glanced up at her older sister. "Do you think Dad is going to be mad?" she whispered apprehensively.

* * *

"Mr. Gru?" Mrs. Waterbottom called out. "Are you looking for Agnes?"

He nodded; a confused look on his face. He hadn't been able to find any of his children and it was past three-fifteen.

"I believe the little pumpkin is still at the nurse's office. And I believe her sisters are talking to the principal."

The color drained from Gru's face.

"What?" He demanded gruffly, talking a step towards the surprised teacher.

Her breathe catching in her throat, and Agnes's teacher took an intimidated step backwards. "W-well, you see, I sent the poor dear to the nurse not too long ago. A-and I heard there had been two little- umm, misshapes with her sisters…"

Gru's eyes become alight with anger as Mrs. Waterbottom backed herself into a desk in fright. She was about to say something else when Gru swiftly turned and left the room, his stride purposeful and almost… desperate.

Gru was furious, but not towards anyone but himself. How could he leave them alone? He just knew something bad was going to happen and yet he let them go anyway! If anything happened to them it was all his fault. However, the unmatched feeling of anger that was bubbling in his chest was in fact just a symptom; the real aliment was a cold hopeless pit of fear burrowing deep in his gut.

He reached the front office quickly, but that was probably because he had been sprinting through the halls. To his relief, he caught sight of Margo and Edith sitting in chairs by the front desk. They both looked distracted, but other than that, completely unharmed.

Edith saw him first and quickly jumped out of her seat. "Dad!" she yelled as she came running towards him.

He caught her easily in one arm, and for the first time since he arrived back on school grounds, he found himself breaking out into a smile.

"Dad," Margo said slowly as she approached. "There is something you should know…"

As much as Gru wanted to know what had happened, there was still one other person he had to find. "First, where ees Agnes?"

"She's in the nurse's office just down the hall. She's alright, the teacher just over-reacted." Margo assured him. "Apparently someone took her unicorn plushie and well… you know how she gets. She held her breathe and ended up passing out. The nurse hasn't let her leave even though I talked to her and she's perfectly fine."

As Margo finished Gru let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Dat's good. I'm glad you're all okay."

"Okay? These children are far from okay." A shrill tiny woman with high cheekbones appeared from out of her office. "You must be their…" she hesitated, a look of surprise and disgust on her face, "father."

"Yes, who are yoo?"

"I am Principle Millard!" The woman informed him shrilly, as if he should have known that. "I'm also sick of these brats. It's the same thing every year!"

Gru's expression darkened as the principal continued.

"Edith, here, can't seem to keep out of a confrontation. Last year she was averaging a fight every few weeks, and it's only the first day of school and she's already brawling!"

"Yoo were een a fight?" Gru asked the seven-year-old in his arms. Edith just glanced away and pulled her beanie down to cover her eyes.

"He had it coming…" she murmured under her breath.

"We had to send her victim home! He had a black eye and we think some teeth might have come loose. This is very serious! I can't allow this to keep happening!"

"Wait, wait," Gru interrupted, and then turned back to his daughter. "You won?" he asked grinning, "excellent."

Edith was taken aback at first, obviously thinking she was going to be in trouble, but then she smiled proudly. "Yep, I always win! He was making fun of me so I made him stop. He was really easy to beat."

"Excuse me," the principal interrupted, flabbergasted. "We are trying to discourage her violent behavior, not make the problem worse!"

"What's dee problem? She won, didn't she?" Gru challenged, still slightly grinning at Edith's accomplishment.

Marge snickered to herself. Obviously the Principle had been hoping for a more typical parental response like a grounding … She should have known; only a Dad like hers would actually be proud of their child.

"If this happens again I will be forced to take more drastic measures! And Margo… I can handle fighting, but the one thing I can't stand is a know-it-all."

"Well, she ees a very smart gurl," Gru agreed, not fully understanding what the principle meant.

"Or she thinks she is. I always get complaints from her teachers about how she's always undermining their authority, questioning what they say."

Gru couldn't help but grin; that definitely sounded like Margo. When they first met she was always the first to say 'no' to him, and the last to do what he wanted.

"Her teacher informed me of how she was contently arguing with him about the classroom rules and even the subject he was teaching!"

"Well, obviously dee teacher was wrong den." Gru shrugged.

Margo looked at him in amazement, but he didn't notice.

"What?" The principle stared at him incredulously.

"Maybe yoo should be more careful 'bout dee people you hire. Dat's okay, everyone makes mistakes."

The small lady's face flushed a brilliant scarlet. "This isn't about who was right or wrong! This is about respect and discipline! Those… those _children_," she spat, "have neither! The three of them are the biggest brats I have ever met, and they're completely hopeless! I don't know why you would have ever wanted th-" she cut herself off abruptly after seeing the man's free hand clench at his side, and his eye's, which were locked into her own, become dark and dangerous. There was an empty silence for a few long seconds before Gru calmly set Edith down on the floor. However, in this time the principle had stopped breathing, for this was a terrifying kind of calm, the kind where you know a storm is soon to follow.

When Gru stood up again his back was ridged and lower jaw clenched. His eyes seemed to burn into her own as he slowly approached her. She tried to hold her ground, but the instinct to flee was too great. Her legs not working, she was able to stubble backwards, but she never managed to get out from underneath his eclipsing shadow.

"Eef I were yoo I would be very careful of how yoo are choosing to finish dat sentence, because I 'ave a very long memory, and _no one_ insults my gurls." As he spoke his words were utterly soulless, and the Principle couldn't help but wonder if this man had killed anyone, and from the look in his eyes it was obvious he had no qualms about killing her.

"I-I'll- I'll call the police!" she managed to squeak out. As absurd as the threat sounded, for technically Gru had done nothing, in the teacher's fear-stricken mind it seemed more then necessary.

He just smirked. "Go ahead," he invited, motioning towards the phone, but the principle found herself too frightened to move.

"I-I didn't mean anything," she tried again. "Your girls are very lovely… I must have made a- a mistake." Principle Millard gulped, hoping this would be enough to placate him.

"Wow," Edith breathed, amazed that her father had so easily reduced their no-nonsense Principle into this pitiful creature.

Margo, on the other hand, was beyond words. She knew her Dad could be scary, but this… She was actually feeling sorry for their principle.

"It happens." Gru took a step back from the principle, effectively allowing her to breath properly again. "We are goeeng home now, come on gurls, let's go geet your seestor."

As they walked away from a recovering Principle Millard, Margo turned to her father. "Dad… was that necessary? I really thought she was going to faint, or at least call the police."

"Are you kidding?" Edith jumped in excitedly. "That was awesome! Come scare my teacher next!" she requested, pulling on his hand.

Their father just chuckled to himself.

"It was kind of cool," Margo admitted. "I never liked Principle Millard and she's always hated us."

The family arrived at the nurse's office, and as they entered they found Agnes sitting on a bed petting her unicorn, a lollipop in her mouth.

When she saw her father, Agnes's entire face lit up. "Daddy!" She jumped off the bed and ran towards him. "Look, look! The nice nurse-lady gave me candy! She's so nice! I like school!"

Gru was surprised, he would have thought she would be upset about having her toy taken away, but it seems like she had gotten it back somehow, and with the addition of candy, her day had been deemed 'fun' in her book.

"Are yoo sure? You gurls don't 'ave to come back tomorrow." He informed them. Personally, he hoped they wouldn't want to come back, not after he met the people running the school.

"I want too! School is so much fun! I hope I get candy everyday!" Agnes cheered.

Edith pulled on her father's coat sleeve. "I want to come back too. People usually yell at me for fighting and stuff, but you scared the person who does the yelling!" She looked up at her father awe, still smiling goofily.

Margo, on the other hand, still couldn't believe it. This had been the one of the worst school days they have ever had (rarely did all three of them get into trouble on the same day), and yet none of them had truly gotten in trouble. Their father had defended both her and Edith, even though they had broken school rules.

No one had ever been on their side before.

"Can we some back tomorrow?" Margo asked. "Please?"

Gru hesitated, but he always had trouble saying no to his girls pleading eyes. "Okay, you gurls can keep going to school."

"Yay!" They all cheered, making Gru smile.

"Now, let's be headeeng home. I believe we are 'aving peessa tonight."

There was another collective cheer.

And Gru, who had been even more frightened of his girls going to school then they were, finally started to relax… at least until tomorrow.

**Okay, I'll admit it, the three girls have some issues… but who wouldn't after what they've been through? However, this is the first time they've had someone support them regardless of what they do.**

**What do you think? About Mrs. Waterbottom, ummm… I really DON'T know where that name came from so don't ask. It just popped into my head and just kind of… fit. In a really weird over-hyper teacher kind of way.**

**I'm sorry about the spelling errors btw, I didn't have a beta so they were probably pretty bad.**

**Edit: I fixed some of the errors in this chapter. Really, they were horrible. I'm sure it's still far from perfect, but it's much better now.**

**Please Review!**


	2. Unlikely Strength

**I want to thank everyone for all your encouragement with chapter one of Despicable Days. It wasn't easy to write because I'm not used to writing for a movie (unlike a show which has a lot more material for reference), so thanks for letting me know how I was doing!**

**I apologize for so many random characters in this one. It is important for the story, but I felt bad making three (technically five)OC characters. I tried to make them as different as possible so they are interesting and easy to tell apart. However, as always, the focus will be on Gru and the girls! They are the only characters we really care about anyway. **

**And I want to thank Raven Morning for being my Beta! She was really awesome about it!**

**Disclaimer: Despicable me belongs to illumination entertainment and universal.**

Chapter 2: Unlikely Strength

"Trust me when I say, I hold Gru in the highest regard. In my opinion Gru is in the top, if not THE top super villain today. And I'm not just saying this as a good friend of his, but as a colleague I've always admired his work, and I believe he is the villain you are looking for."

"You went to school with our candidate in question, is that right?"

"Yes ma'am, we were roommates at the University of Chaos and Villainy. I was more of the mad scientist type and he was the master planner." The man chuckled to himself. "Gru always came up with these outrageous ideas, and somehow he got them to work out."

"Doctor Marvel, you have had many respectable accomplishments… one of your most noticeable was the invention of the shrink ray… overlooking the fact you let the government get a hold of it."

Doctor Marvel adjusted the rim of his purple and gold top hat, one of the oddities of his extravagant attire, in awkward embarrassment. "Yes, umm, well…"

"It is because of these accomplishments that we are spending our valuable time looking into this man you suggested as a candidate for our program," Mrs. Euryale, a strict business-like woman in a red suit, continued. "But we are looking for a villain who is not only experienced, but has new fresh ideas. One that is as focused as he is capable. Most importantly he must be evil; we don't want the participant of or program to have any… moral reservation."

"Morals can lead to a conscience, and a conscience leads to weakness, and we do not tolerate any sort of weakness at E.G.O." An older overweight man with a long white beard informed him sternly. Although one might be tempted to describe this man as resembling Santa Clause, looks were they only thing he had in common with the jolly fat man. Mr. Dante was known for his cruel humor and ruthless ability to get what he wanted. He had a more casual approach to his work then his partner Mrs. Euryale, but this didn't make him any less malevolent.

"Absolutely, you don't get much more evil then Gru, you have my word on that! He has no weakness and he is completely focused on his work. There is nothing he cares about more than being a villain." Dr. Marvel swore, placing his right hand in the air dramatically, as if taking an oath.

"Your word means nothing to me Doctor," Mrs. Euryale informed him coldly. "We have heard of Mr. Gru's earlier accomplishments and a few of them are quite impressive… but what has he done recently?" Mrs. Euryale's body guards, two large twins that tower over everyone in the small group, eyed him hostilely. Their names were Grunt and Grack, they did everything their mistress told them too and never talked. They were around for mostly intimidation, but Marvel knew to never get on their bad side. He often referred to them as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in his mind, but never out loud; he enjoyed living far too much for that.

"Well, unfortunately…" the Doctor gulped under the watchful eyes of the twins, "we've both been very busy and Gru and I haven't had much time to catch up, but I did have a brief visit with him last year. I informed him of the location of my shrink ray, and using this information he promised to come up with the crime of the century."

"Which was what, Doctor?" Mrs. Euryale asked impatiently.

"Well… I'm not sure exactly, he wouldn't tell me. However, I'm sure you both remember how the moon disappeared recently."

The two corporate leaders looked taken aback. "That was Mr. Gru?"

"I would bet my lab on it." Dr. Marvel winked. "Only Gru could come up with such a radical plan as removing the moon from the sky."

"Then, Doctor, let me ask you this," Mr. Dante challenge. "Why, if he is such a competent villain, is the moon back?"

Dr. Marvel hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not sure, but I know there is a good reason for it! Gru is completely devoted to his job; you won't find a better villain anywhere."

* * *

All Marvel could think of, as he led the group up to the mansion, was how surprised Gru was going to be. This is the kind of opportunity every super villain dreams of. And by helping his friend get into this position on the most prestigious project in E.G.O. (the evil genius organization) he, as a genius scientist and an old partner of Gru's, won't be left out of the equation. It would work out in both Gru's and his own favor. Now all he had to do was convince the two head honchos that Gru was perfect for the job.

Marvel rang the doorbell, and looked back at the four people watching the door. Everything had to go perfectly. If he wanted this to work then there could be no mistakes, no slip up, and absolutely no surprises.

There was movement behind the door and then, ever so slowly, it opened. A pair of large brown eyes peaked out from behind the door and met the five visitors with an inquisitive stare.

"Hi… are you selling cookies?" A small voice asked as a young girl appeared before them.

Before they could answer there was more movement behind the door.

"Agnes, you were supposed to wait for me." A girl about ten-years-old scolded as she stepped into view. She had obviously been the one to open the door since it would have been too heavy for the smaller child. "Umm," the older girl started uncomfortably, pulling her younger sister closer in the face of five strange people. "Who are you?"

Marvel's eyes widened as he stared at the girls. What were children doing at his friend's house?

"Who is it? Who's at the door?" Another high-pitched voice called. Another child, one with blond hair, came up behind the others.

There were three of them now? What the hell was going on?

"Whoa…cool!" the blonde haired child breathed, taking all of them in, from the large twins to the always frowning Mrs. Euryale, to the cold-as-stone Mr. Dante and ending at the exotically dressed Doctor Marvel. They were quite a sight. "Who are they?"

"I don't know," the older one muttered to her, "They haven't told us yet."

"So, Doc," came Mr. Dante's sarcastic voice, "which one of them is Gru? Funny, I always pictured him as taller."

Marvel had this sudden urge to shoot him with some kind of ray gun right now, but he held back.

"What are you doing here?" Marvel demanded of the kids.

The older one looked taken aback at his question, but then she narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "We live here. Shouldn't that be my question for you?"

"You… live here?" he asked slowly, trying to make sense of the situation. "Where is Gru then?"

The annoyance on the girl's face seemed to clear a bit, but she still regarded them distrustfully. "He's in the lab… are you friends of his?"

Relief surged through Marvel, so Gru still did live hear then, but that still didn't explain…

"Well, come on then, I didn't come all this way to stand on his doorstep," Mr. Dante's voice boomed. "Let's go and meet him." The older man pushed the door open wider and continued inside, knocking the three children out of the way as he went.

The three girls protested the sudden treatment, and the oldest had to grab the littlest girl before she was stepped on.

"Hey, we didn't invite you in!" The brown-haired one challenged as the rest of villains entered the house as well.

Mr. Dante ignored her as he looked around the entranceway. "Not bad." He nodded appreciatively at the décor.

Marvel grinned to himself. Gru had an appreciation for the old style weapons and torture devises, which was one of the things Mr. Dante and his friend had in common.

"Wait a minute…" the young girl began again. "Are you guys super villains?"

At this realization the pink-hatted little girl's smile grew wider.

Mrs. Euryale scoffed indignantly. "We are much more than that. We are the leading members of E.G.O. and… Marvel," she addressed him crossly. "Why am I explaining myself to children? Just who are these pests?"

"Oh umm…" Marvel fumbled, trying to think of the most logical reason as to why there would be children in a super villain's house. "They… they must be a tool, yes, that's it! He must be using these children in his newest scheme. That's just how evil Gru is, he would stoop so low as to force children into his service."

"That sounds like an odd way to get things done, but I do admire his willingness to do anything to get what he wants." Mr. Dante offered thoughtfully.

"Yep, that's Gru for ya!" Marvel sighed in relief. Things seemed to be going okay so far, despite the three unexpected surprises.

He felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to see the black-haired girl. "Mr. Villainy guy, can I plway wit' your hat?" she requested, looking up at him with her big eyes.

"No, you absolutely may not! It's not for playing with!"

"But it's so pwetty!"

"It's not pretty!" He pouted crossing his arms over his chest. "It's part of my evil costume…" he mumbled crossly.

Unexpectedly, she broke out in a fit of giggles. "You're funny!"

Marvel blinked and gawked at the girl. Well, he WAS pretty funny, but he hadn't meant to make her laugh.

"Doctor Marvel, are you done losing an argument with a five-year-old?" Mrs. Euryale asked, making Mr. Dante chuckled at his expense.

"Ahem, well… let's continue. Children, I order you to fetch Gru at once."

The blonde child gave him a 'you can't make me' look and put her hands on her hips. Not wanting to back down from a little girl, Marvel advanced on her until she had to crane her neck all the way back to look at him. He tried again with hopefully more authority in his voice.

"Go on, do what I said- OWW!" he cried out as the little girl's sharp boot connected with his shin. He hopped up and down on one foot while letting out a number of colorful curse words.

The oldest girl put her arm around the other two children's heads, attempting to cover both their ears at the same time.

Finally the pain subsided and he glared spitefully at the girl. "What did you do that for?" he demanded, seething.

The violent child crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue. "You're not the boss of me!"

The oldest smirked. "She's right; we don't have to do what you say. Besides, we aren't allowed in the lab unsupervised."

"Doctor," came Mrs. Euryale's impatient voice, and Marvel felt himself tense. "We have taken time out of our busy schedules because you promised us evil. I don't like to be kept waiting."

"Of course, of course, this place is full of evil, I assure you!" He cast a look around the room for something, anything. How could he have been so stupid? He had been indulging children, _children._ He should have been focusing on the people who controlled his career instead.

To his immense relief the perfect example of his friend's malevolence walked into the room. A shiver ran down his spine as he backed away from the small monster he had received numerous scars from.

"What is that thing?" Mrs. Euryale asked while eyeing the monster with disgust. Her two bodyguards Grunt and Grack moved forward to protect her if need be.

"This is Kyle, a blood thirsty monster Gru and Dr. Nefario, Gru's right hand man, created. Gru keeps him around to guard the house." He wasn't going to mention that Gru had no choice but to keep him, the monster was too dangerous to try and remove so it was best to leave the thing alone. Marvel thought this was a perfect example of what Gru was capable of. Never before had he met a creature that as destructive or enjoyed the taste of blood as much as Kyle did.

"Impressive design," Mr. Dante noted.

"It's disgusting, but… is it really as aggressive as you say?" Mrs. Euryale was intrigued with anything that could be used to hurt or control others.

"Let's just put it this way, if you go near it you will be lucky if you only lose a hand."

Kyle continued to wander into the room, eyeing the occupants closely, but otherwise ignoring them. Marvel thought this was strange at first; he was used to Kyle attacking everyone in sight. However, he reasoned to himself, perhaps Kyle wasn't willing to attack such a large group.

He was about to move on when a shill cry cut him off. "Puppy!" the smallest of the girls called, walking towards the monster. "Cwome here! Here fluffy puppy!"

Marvel's eyes widened as he watched the small child approach the 'dog'.

"Umm, little girl, that's not a dog," he warned. "You shouldn't pet it!" However, that was a far as he was willing to go to stop her. He wasn't willing to risk himself getting bitten just for the little girl, and besides… this would make an excellent demonstration of Kyle's killer instincts. Inwardly he flinched, he had never been a fan of gore, but he still didn't move to help. The others adults in the room just looked on eagerly.

The little girl was just a few inches away from Kyle now and Marvel expected a shriek of pain any second now. He could help it, he closed his eyes…

But what he heard was the last thing he imagined.

A high-pitched giggle filled the air and he opened his eyes to see the always-bloodthirsty Kyle lying on his back enjoying a nice tummy rub while ever so often licking the little girls face.

Doctor Marvel's jaw fell open.

"But-but-but-" he stammered, unable to complete a coherent thought let alone a sentence.

"So much for your terrifying monster," Mr. Dante commented dryly.

"That's not possible…" Marvel breathed. He could still see the scars on his arm where that monster had bitten him, and now he was cuddling up with a little girl as if he really was a domesticated pet.

"Good boy Kwyle!" the little girl praised, giving the 'dog' a hug.

Marvel staggered forward, hoping to understand what was going on. As he approached Kyle watched him with beady eyes, and it wasn't long before the monster let out a low growl, making Marvel stop in his tracks. The Kyle stood up and placed itself in front of the girl, his teeth bared.

Marvel blinked in confusion, but then he realized what was going on. The monstrous creature, the one even Gru couldn't control, was actually protecting the little girl.

The other two girls came up behind Marvel and started petting Kyle as well.

"Good boy."

"It's okay Kyle."

The 'dog' was enjoying the attention and rolled on his back once again in content, his tongue hanging out.

"I-I don't understand…" Marvel whimpered, taking in the scene.

"Is this your idea of a joke Doctor?" Mrs. Euryale asked, sounding extremely peeved. Her bodyguards shifted their weight, clenching and unclenching their fists.

Marvel adjusted his hat and gulped. "N-no! I mean, I'm just getting started. Gru is a true villain, really!"

"Well, you haven't given use much of a reason to believe you." Mr. Dante pointed out. He nodded to a blissful Kyle. "That's all you've given us so far."

"Well, well the proof is all around you…you can ask anyone!" Marvel knew this argument was weak, but he couldn't think of anything else right now.

"Really?"

"Y-yes! And they will all tell you what a terrible guy Gru is." His eyes darted around the house, trying to find some inspiration. Finally they landed on the three girls. "If the girls live here then they must know what he's like. Girls, tell them how evil Gru is, would you?" He pleaded franticly. This was the only way he could stall until Gru appeared. He didn't know how to get into Gru's lab so all he could do was wait until he showed up and attempt to build up his resume until then.

The oldest girl raised an eyebrow at the question and gave a look that seemed to say: '_you're asking us? You must be desperate'._

"How evil he is? Well…" The brown-haired girl considered the question, adjusting her glasses. "He is pretty evil... the best villain I know."

"He has a lot of guns and bombs and rockets!" the blonde supplied quickly, much to Marvel's relief.

"And a lot of minions and a huge secret lab," the oldest continued.

"And he stwole da moon!" the youngest one announced gleefully, and Marvel choked in surprise.

The two leaders of E.G.O stared dumfounded at the girl.

Marvel saw his opportunity and went for it. "He stole the moon? What happened?"

"Oh, he had to put it back in da sky. He was too busy kicking that meanie-head in pajama's butt!"

The other two girls nodded in agreement, but Marvel had no clue what she was talking about. However, one thing was clear, Gru had done what no other Villain had done before, and now the leaders of E.G.O. knew it.

Heavy foot falls came down the hallway, and Marvel resisted the urge to applaud at Gru's timing.

"Gurls, I'm making deenner, what ees eet dat you want teh eat?" Gru asked as he stepped into the entrance way. At the sight of five extra people Gru stopped short, his expression twisting in confusion.

"Gru, buddy!" Marvel greeted walking towards the large man.

"Marvel? …Marvel! 'ow ees eet going? Eets been too long!" They slapped each other on the back, a rough hug between old friends.

"Things have been good. Gru, I would like you to meet some people." He waved a hand at the two cooperate leaders. "This is Mrs. Euryale and Mr. Dante, two of the leading members of E.G.O. They are looking for a villain for their new program." He elbowed Gru. "I might have brought your name up once or twice."

"Really?" Gru looked baffled at first, but then grinned. "Eet's an 'onor teh meet you." He held out his hand to shake theirs, but they just stared at it coolly.

"Yes, it must be. We heard you were the one who stole the moon. Care to elaborate on that?" Mrs. Euryale asked, skipping the formalities.

"Oh yes, my biggest accomplishment," Gru mused, not fazed by her coldness. "Well, eet was inspired from a dream I 'ad as a kid, teh be an astronaut…"

During Gru's explanation the three kids left Kyle's side and made their way over to the bald supper villain. No one noticed them until the little one pulled on Gru's pant leg in order to get his attention.

Without even pausing in the story he bent down to pick up the five-year-old and held her comfortably in his arm. She beamed up at him, and begun to play with the color of his sweater absentmindedly; she seemed content just to be held.

Marvel's eyes widened at Gru's surprising behavior, but his friend continued as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"And den I 'eld dee moon in dee palm o' my 'and..."

He was cut off by the girl in his arms as she began tugging at his color more insistently. "Daddy, I'm getting hungwry."

For a moment Marvel almost missed the key word, but then it hit him full force. "DADDY?" he yelled, tripping over his own feet as he stumbled backwards, crashing into a very disgruntled Mrs. Euryale. However, Marvel was too overwhelmed to care.

The skinny Doctor just stood there, clinging to the stern woman, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, and yet no words came out.

"Eh? Oh yes, I deedn't introduce you. Dees are my daughters Agnes, Edith and Margo." He motioned to each one in turn, smiling, yes _smiling,_ fondly at them.

Marvel couldn't think of anything coherent to say so he just continued to stare at his old friend like he had lost his mind.

"Hmm," Mr. Dante commented, "The records didn't show Mr. Gru had any kids."

"That's because he doesn't!" Marvel shouted at last. "Gru, you don't have kids!"

Although it was quick, Marvel didn't miss the darkening of Gru's features.

"Yes, I do." He corrected sternly, and Marvel repressed a shiver. Damn Gru was good at intimidation, even when he wasn't meaning to be. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the oldest girl, Margo her name was, smirk triumphantly.

"But Gru…" he tried to appeal to his friend's logical mind, "this doesn't make any sense. You've never had kids, never wanted kids… actually, you hate kids."

"I do hate kids," he agreed, "but not my gurls."

"Have you completely lost your mind? What's so special about them?"

Marval noticed the same anger in his friend's eyes as he saw earlier and quickly shut his mouth.

"Everyt'ing." Gru answered easily and then turned his attention back to his girls. "Sorry, I got sidetracked wit' our guests. Now, what do you gurls want vor deenner?"

Edith shrugged. "I don't know… food?"

Gru rolled his eyes, a smirk on his face. "Yes, but what kind?"

The girls just shrugged, unable to think of anything when suddenly Gru's eyes lit up.

"'ow 'bout I make dee spaghetti and meatballs?"

Edith's looked up hopefully, a large gin on her face. "That's my favorite!"

Gru returned her smile. "I know eet ees."

"It looks like blood and guts and stuff! So cool!"

Gru just chuckled at her excitement.

"Okay, now dat eets settled I'll go get eet started." He put the youngest girl back on the floor and headed into the kitchen. Before he disappeared he turned to address his guests. "You are welcome teh stay vor deenner, I weell make extra."

Gru entered the kitchen, leaving the most influential people he ever met just standing in his entrance way. And all because the little girl said she was hungry and the blonde seemed to brighten at the mention of spaghetti… What in the world had happened to his friend?

Doctor Marvel wasn't going to just stand by and watch Gru blow this opportunity for the both of them. With a purposeful stride he entered the kitchen, determined to get some answers.

"Gru, please, please tell me this is just some kind of sick joke or that… that you're just trying to keep up pretences around those girls because they're part of your plot. Please!"

Gru raised an eyebrow at his friend, as if Marvel was the one who had lost his mind.

"Maybe you should seeat down…" Gru offered.

"No I don't want to seeat down!" he mocked. "I want you to tell me what's going on with you. Your… you're not the same. I just saw you a year ago, but it's like you're a different person! You just left two leaders of E.G.O. to go cook dinner… and right in the middle of the story that might have gotten you hired! Why did the moon plan fail Gru? And please don't tell me it has anything to do with those little girls."

Gur sighed and put down the bag of noodles he was going to start cooking. "You want teh know what 'appened?" he asked, facing his friend.

Marvel nodded wordlessly, looking up at Gru with tired desperation.

"Eeets simple really, I was geeven a choice, dee moon or dee gurls."

"… and you chose the girls." Marvel finished with a frustrated sigh, already knowing the answer. "But why Gru? With the moon you could have had everything you ever wanted!"

Gru turned back to making the pasta. "T'ings change… and so did I." He shrugged.

"I… don't get it. I really don't understand Gru. They're _just _kids."

Marvel flinched, thinking he was going to see it again, that dangerous look in Gru's eyes when he insulted the children. However, Gru's expression surprised him; he hadn't expected what could pass as sympathy on the villains face.

"I don't t'ink you can understand. I wouldn't 'ave been able to 'alf a year ago."

"Understand what?" Marvel groaned in frustration. "I don't know what to say to you. I used to look up to you, you know? Then you go and do something like this. Are you even… still a villain?"

Gru abruptly turned to face him, an expression of shock and anger on his face. "Ov course I am! I am dee best vyillain deir ees! I remind you, I stole dee moon!"

An idea popped into Marvel's head. "Yeah, but I've bet you've gone soft. I know the old Gru could have gotten into the program for E.G.O. But this new Gru? I doubt it…"

Gru huffed indignantly, "I'll show you 'gone soft'! Dey are going to be begging me to be in deir program by the end ov dee night!"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Marvel cheered; relieved he had finally got through to his friend.

"I am going to be showing dem 'ow a true villain gets t'ings done!"

"Yeah, let's go!"

"…after I serve dee gurls deenner."

Marvel groaned, cupping his face in his hands and sinking into a chair. "I hate you so much right now…"

Gru gave him a confused look before shrugging and turning back to the noodles.

There was a long silence before Marvel spoke again. "You know, if you really care about those kids then I would think you would be more worried about leaving them in a room with two of the most evil people in the world."

Gru just shrugged. "Don't worry about dee gurls, day can take care ov demselves." He assured him, a hint of pride in his voice.

Marvel looked doubtfully at Gru, but let the subject drop. He didn't care what happened to the kids. In fact, he was starting to resent their existence more and more.

Gru quickly finished dinner and begun setting the table. Marvel couldn't get over how mundane Gru's actions were. He was a supper villain, and yet here he was setting the table for seven, and worst of all, this didn't seem to bother him. Was he really content with such an average lifestyle? He was on the most wanted list, he had committed crimes which had amazed and terrified the world, but now… now he took care of little brats all day.

Marvel couldn't take this anymore; he had to get away from his friend, just for a minute so he could collect his thoughts. As scary as the idea was he decided to head back in the kitchen and check up on Dante and Euryale.

He really hadn't understood what Gru meant when he said his kids could take care of themselves… until he walked back into the entrance way again.

Marvel's head spun at the sight. The little girl, Agnes, was sitting on Mr. Dante's lap, looking up at him with hopeful eyes and chatting away. Mr. Dante looked exasperated at his situation, but still he didn't remove her.

"…And I want a stuffed unicorn, and a coloring book, and a house made out of gummy bears… OH! And a real live unicorn! And umm… umm…"

Mr. Dante looked at his female partner in desperation. "Must I do this?"

Mrs. Euryale rubbed her temple. "This is much better than its incessant whining, now shut up and be Santa Clause for the little brat."

Disgruntled, the older man looked back down at Agnes, but it was obvious he could care less about what she was saying.

"I am so next!" Edith announced getting in 'line'.

Margo rolled her eyes. "You know that's not really Santa, right?"

"Well duh, but it doesn't hurt to ask. I'm going to ask for my own of those disintegrator thingy's."

"There is no way Santa will give you a gun. You'll probably get coal just for asking for one."

Edith sighed. "You're right... "She looked disappointed until an idea came to her. "I'll just ask Dad!"

"Dad's not going to-" Margo cut herself off after seeing Edith's amused expression. "…Never mind."

"Wha- what is going on?" Marvel asked as he slowly made his way into the room, rubbing his eyes as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Agnes thinks he's Santa even though I told her he wasn't." Margo explained pointing to Mr. Dante.

However, Marvel was more interested in hearing what the two villains thought about this.

"She wouldn't stop begging to sit on his lap so I made him go along with it," Mrs. Euryale commented absentmindedly, not really caring if Marvel was confused or not. "Her whining was giving me a headache."

The question of why they didn't just vaporize the child entered Marvel's head. However, he realized that would cause a lot more commotion and unneeded problems if she killed the child then to just make her partner do all the hard work. It made sense, but Marvel still felt the little girl was very lucky.

"…and I want a prwincess crown, and pwetty hair ribbons, and…"

"Okay, deenner ees ready!" Gru stepped into the entranceway and everyone looked up, even Agnes who had been wrapped up in her wish list.

"Daddy!" She wriggled off Dante's lap and ran to her father, eager to tell him what happened in the short time he had been out of the room. "I got to meet Santa!"

Her father looked at the adults in the room with bewilderment, but Marvel was not going to explain it to him.

"Eh? Dats good Agnes?" he praised her in confusion.

She just grinned happily and took his hand.

"Deenner ees on dee table." He told everyone as he begun leading them through the kitchen and into the dinning room. "Come on gurls," he called just to make sure they were following, but they didn't need to be told twice, especially not Edith. She went racing through the crowd and ducked under Agnes's and her father's entwined hands and was out of sight in an instant.

Mr. Dante, Mrs. Euryale and her two bodyguards were the last to follow. When Gru was far enough ahead a stiff hand landed on Marvel's shoulder, making him turn in surprised.

"Let us explain something to you Marvel." Mr. Dante began in an ominously quiet voice. "Do you know why we are still here?"

Marvel shook his head; he had been asking himself this same question. Not only did these high-ranking people not leave when Gru had ignored them to go make dinner, but they actually put up with three bratty kids in the meantime. This shocked him to no end, evil was never known for its patients.

"Reason one is because I never turn down food Dr. Marvel," Dante said solemnly, as if it was against one of his principles.

"Reason two," Mrs. Euryale continued, "is because Gru is one of our best candidates. I doubted your sincerity at first, but sealing the moon… well, he has a bright future if we select him. Our last candidate was… how would you describe him Mr. Dante?"

"I was going to just say a freak," Dante shrugged, a cruel smile tugging on his lips.

"I was looking for a more professional word, but freak will do. Mr. Vector did not have the talent or the motivation we need. He seemed more interested in his video games…" Mrs. Euryale frowned at the memory. "Mr. Gru seems to have the dedication we are looking for. He's not the perfect candidate, and he will have to make a few… changes, but if his lair is up to our standards then I think our search is over."

Marvel's face broke out into a large grin. "Thank you, you won't be disappointed I-"

"I said after we checked out his lair. Don't start celebrating too soon Dr. Marvel. There are still plenty of things that will make us change our minds." The two corporate leaders continued to the dining room, leaving Marvel between excitement and worry.

At the dinner table Gru sat at the head with Agnes on is right, Edith on his left and Margo next to Edith. There were three other places set; Marvel was placed next to the youngest girl where Mr. Dante and Mrs. Euryale were placed in the two remaining seats. Marvel noticed how Gru purposefully hadn't set plates for Grunt and Grack. It was Villain's educate to not have the minions or body guards eat with their boss, and instead the two twins stood behind Euryale watchfully. Of course it would also be improper for a Villain's children to eat with them and their guests, but it seemed Gru hadn't remembered or didn't care about that rule.

Throughout the dinner Marvel watched Gru carefully. He was looking for any indication that his old friend still existed. This man looked like Gru, talked like Gru, but there was just something off about him, a change that Marvel couldn't put his finger on. He knew it had something to do with the girls, but there had to be more to it. There was no way living with kids could change a man so drastically.

"So Mr. Gru, why don't you tell us a little bit about your career? How did you get started?" Marvel knew this story far too well; after all, he had been there. So he tuned it out and kept his concentration on Gru's actions instead.

As Gru started his story nothing seemed out of the ordinary; that is until Agnes attempted to eat a meatball. The piece of meat was too big for her and as she attempted to get it all in her mouth she ended up smearing tomato sauce all over herself.

Still in the middle of his story, Gru chuckled to himself and leaned over to cut the meat into smaller pieces for the girl. Her eyes lit up at the attention, and then accepted a napkin form her father who helped her clean herself off. Marvel had barely noticed the little girl's problem and Gru had been so wrapped up in his story that Marvel was surprised the villain had even noticed the small girl. But upon closer inspection Marvel realized that every so often Gru would glance at the girls, even during the most thrilling parts of his story. When he looked at the kids his ruthless eyes would become soft, only to grow distant again when he looked back towards his guest.

When his story ended, and the two corporate leaders looked relatively impressed, Edith started her own conversation.

"We learned about the renaissance era at school today," Edith began, and like someone had flipped a switch, Gru's full attention was on the girl.

"Dat ees my favorite time period, what deed you learn?"

Edith shrugged. "I don't remember, but I told everyone that my house had some awesome renaissance stuff, mostly the weapons, suits of armor and torture devices."

Mr. Dante interrupted, completely ignoring the little girl. "Yes Mr. Gru, I am very impressed by your collection. Did I see a traditional Knee Splitter back there?"

Gru's eyes glowed, and Marvel smiled at the return of his old friend. Gru always had a love for torture devices from all over the world.

"Yes, and eet's not just vor display, eet ees still een working condition."

"Impressive." Dante praised with a nod.

"I also 'ave a Rack in dee back room and in Inquisitional Chair in dee lab. Eets so 'ard to geet the blood stains out ov dat one."

"If you don't mind, I would like to see it before we leave. Even I don't have that one in my collection." Dante requested, taking another bite of this food.

"Yeah, Dad puts all the really cool ones in the lab now," Edith sulked crossing her arms.

"Well yeah! That's because you were playing with the Guillotine!" Margo chided her sister.

Edith snorted. "That's an execution device Margo; we're talking about torture, like the Iron Maiden."

Margo rolled her eyes. "Whatever! Close enough. They're both dangerous."

"They're completely different! The Guillotine was used mostly in France but the Iron Maiden didn't exist until the 18th century in Germany." Edith explained in a 'well duh' voice.

Margo gaped at her sister. Her sister who always fell asleep in history, who never took time to memorize anything, had suddenly shown a fairly extensive knowledge of old fashion weapons and torture devices. And by the way their Dad was chuckling it was obvious Edith had been right.

"If only you put that kind you put that kind of effort into your schoolwork," was all Margo could say as she shook her head.

"Why would I do that? School is boring."

Her older sister sighed in exasperation.

Marvel watched Gru smile throughout the whole conversation. At first he was smiling because he was sharing his interest with another enthusiast, Mr. Dante, but when the girls started talking everything changed. He became completely focused on them, so much so that he seemed to forget his guests all together. His excited smile was replaced with warmer gentler one, and the way he just _looked_ at them, like there was nothing in the world that mattered more. Finally Marvel realize why his friend had changed so drastically. Everything Gru had ever worked for, had ever cared about, was now second place. Unlike everyone else who knew the earth orbited the sun, Gru seemed suddenly convinced the world now revolved around those small girls instead.

Marvel didn't know what he could do to help his friend. He wanted Gru to have his old life back, the life he used to love so much, but how could he help his friend reclaim something he didn't want… or perhaps didn't know he wanted. The super villain was so caught up in the girls he thought he was happy, but Marvel knew the parenting lifestyle wasn't for Gru, and he could never be truly happy with such a mundane existence. Marvel just had to remind Gru what he was missing, that the most important thing in his life has always been, and always will be his career. Perhaps he could do this by presenting him with an offer that the villain inside him couldn't refuse. Marvel could tell Gru desperately wanted the job the leaders of E.G.O. presented; there was no villain in the world that didn't. Gru would forget about the girls if he was given something better, Marvel just knew it.

* * *

It wasn't long before all nine of them were in Gru's lab, yes, nine. The girls had asked to come and Marvel was sure that this time Gru would definitely refuse, after all, a lab was for villains and evil scientist, not for children. However, all the girls got was a stern condition that they had to stay with the group and they were allowed to tag along. Marvel wondered briefly if Gru actually wanted to sabotage his chances on getting the position. But no, he soon realized Gru had a hard time saying 'no' to his girls.

As promised, Gru lead them to the room where he kept the more dangerous torture devices. Marvel remembered places in the house where these used to be on display, but he understood Gru had moved them down here to make his house safer for the kids.

As they continued their tour it wasn't long before Mr. Dante and Mrs. Euryale met a few of Gru's minions; this more than impressed Mrs. Euryale, who loved the idea of a villain controlling dozens of these yellow creatures.

Things were going well, despite Gru randomly involving himself in a topic with one of the girls, or stopping to pick up the littlest one because she was getting tired of walking. Dante and Euryale still hadn't mentioned anything about the girls, and they didn't complain about Gru's distracted behavior. In fact, it was like they were ignoring the kids all together and Marvel wondered why they would do that when the kids seemed like such a big disruption for Gru. However, whatever the reason, Marvel was grateful that they seemed more impressed with Gru then they were annoyed with his kids. Besides, it was he the kids decided to annoy the most…

Edith came up beside him as they went deeper into the lair and he couldn't help but glare slightly at the kid and put a little more distance between them. She had kicked him pretty hard earlier.

"So, why are you guys here again?" she asked. In the background Marvel could hear Gru continuing to explain the different parts of his lab to Euryale and Dante.

"Mr. Dante and Mrs. Euryale are here to offer a position to your..." he hesitated, not wanting to support the new relationship, but having no other word to use, "father." He cringed.

"Oh, is it a good position?" she asked.

Marvel snorted. "Only the best, I know hundreds of villains that would give their right eye for this job."

"Why?"

Marvel raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Because the job offers a lot of money and prestige."

"Why?"

"Because E.G.O is one of the largest organizations for villains in the world."

"Why?"

Marvel growled. "Would you stop asking that? Gah! I don't know why Gru puts up with you!"

Edith cocked her head to the side. "Why?"

"Because your annoying brats!"

Edith just smirked. "Why?"

"Would you stop asking 'why'?" Marvel practically shouted, but Gru was far enough ahead he didn't hear him.

There was a long silence and Marvel started to relax before… "Why?"

"Girrrrr!" Marvel began pulling out his red hair in frustration.

"Don't bother," another voice came up behind him. "You're not going to win against her."

The oldest of the children, Margo, started walking along side them.

"Edith, be nice, he's a friend of Dads." Margo tried to reason.

Edith just crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue stubbornly.

"So um," the older one begun, sounding surprisingly civil, "do you think Dad's going to get the job?"

Marvel smirked. "Well, despite you three get in the way, I think it's in the bag."

"Oh," Margo thought about what he said for a second, and then out of nowhere she broke out into a grin. "That's great! Dad really wants it. He didn't say anything about it, but I can tell he's excited."

Marvel blinked in surprise at this little burst of insight. "Of course he does, this job is going to change his life." There was silence between them for a while before Marvel decided to finally ask the question he had been wondering. "Doesn't it bug you?" Margo looked up in surprise. "That you're 'Dad' is a super villain?"

Margo's confused expression cleared and she smiled, shaking her head. "No, it doesn't. It wasn't what we were expecting, but-"

"It's better!" Edith explained happily.

Margo laughed. "It is."

Marvel just looked at the two girls in confusion. "But don't you want a better family? Gru mentioned something about you three being orphans. Wouldn't you want to be adopted by a married couple so you can have a normal family? I'm sure I can find a rich couple for you three in no time."

Edith glared at him and Margo crossed her arms. "No thank you," the oldest replied curtly. "We like it here. We _want_ to be with Dad, we don't need any other parents."

"Oh come on, don't make me laugh. Gru can't be a very good father. He is good at many things, but being a parent is not one of them."

"Dad's the best Dad ever!" Edith defended, "even better than he is at being a villain, and he's really really good at being a bad guy!"

Marvel notice their hostel faces and put his hands up in a surrendering manor. "Okay, okay, I was just trying to help." He sighed to himself. He was hoping he could tempt the kids into wanting to leave, which would force Gru to second guess himself. However, these kids were way too stubborn for their own good.

"Well, we don't need your help. We're finally happy, leave us alone." Margo mumbled, not looking anywhere in particular.

He watched the girl, waiting for an explanation of what she meant, but she didn't say anything more. At the last stop in the tour Dr. Nefario, a man Marvel was also familiar with, was waiting for them.

"Dis ees Doctor Nefanio, my right 'and man. We will be showing you what we are currently working on."

Before Nefario could introduce anything Margo walked up to him with Edith in tow. "Uncle Nefario, can we play with the jet packs?" Margo asked causing Edith to brighten.

"Yeah! Jet packs!" Agnes shouted, squirming out of her father's arms and standing next to her sisters.

Marvel groaned inwardly; _don't tell me they have Nefario wrapped around their little fingers as well._

Doctor Nefario didn't smile like their father did when speaking to the children and Marvel took this as a good sign.

"It's okay with me. You will have to ask your dad though."

Marvel closed his eyes in defeat and hung his head. If Nefario was allowing them to play around with his inventions then the he was a goner too.

"Please Dad, can we?"

"Pretty please?"

"Pwease Daddy?"

Gru turned away from his daughters pleading eyes to look at Nefario."Deed you fix dee problem wit' dee landing?" He asked cautiously.

"Yep, it's good to go."

Gru wasn't satisfied. "And you tested eet?"

"Multiple times."

Gru sighed, rubbing the back of his neck uneasily. "I don't know…"

"Come on Dad, we'll be really careful!" Margo promised, bighting her lip in anticipation.

All three girls looked up at their father with big eyes and Marvel knew what Gru's answer was going to be even before he did.

"Okay, okay…" their Dad caved, making the girls cheer. "But you are not to be going unsupervised. Bill, Mark!" he called over two of his minions. "Watch dee gurls and come get me eef anyt'ing goes wrong." He ordered.

The two minions nodded and waddled away with the three girls.

Marvel watched them leave and when he turned back to Gru he saw the super villain doing the same, a worried expression on his face. After a second Gru seemed to shake himself and turn back to what he had been talked about, but with the girls not in his sights he seemed more distracted then before.

"You look confused Marvel," came a voice behind him, making the Doctor jump.

"Oh, Dr. Nefario." Marvel tuned to see the elderly man looking up at him. "No, I'm fine…" he trailed off after seeing Nefario's doubtful expression. "Okay, maybe I am confused." He sighed. "But maybe you can help me. What's going on with Gru and those girls? Is this like a mid-life crisis thing or what?"

Nefario knew exactly what he was talking about. "No, it's nothing quite so simple."

"Then what is it? Why is he doing this?"

The old man put his hand to his chin, thinking over what to say. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision. "You know that Gru loves his job more than anything in the world?"

Marvel broke out into a smile. "Absolutely, that's why he is so good at it! His career is his life."

"Well…" Nefario continued, looking at his boss. "Gru found something he loves more."

Marvel's face clouded with confusion once again. "That's impossible; there is nothing Gru loves more than being a villain. It's who he is. He is just a little confused right now, that's all…"

Nefario shrugged. "That's what I thought at first too… but I was very wrong." The older doctor started walking towards Gru. "I better go assist him with the new inventions. He doesn't know how to work them yet." As Nefario helped Gru impress the two guests, Marvel looked on, still trying to make sense of everything.

* * *

Finally, finally the tour was over. All nine of them were back in the house and all but the girls were sitting comfortably in the living room. The three children had gone off to play or whatever kids do, which means the room was finally quiet. At long last the two corporate leaders addressed Gru and by their tone Marvel knew they were going to inform everyone of their decision.

"Well Gru, it's been a pleasure." They stood up and so did Gru. Mr. Dante held out his hand this time and Gru shook it, then Mrs. Euryale did the same.

"We are very pleased to inform you that we have made our decision," Mrs. Euryale continued, "and we think you are just the villain we have been looking for." Marvel noticed Euryale smiling as she said this, a sight he never thought he would see.

Gru's face broke out into a large grin. "T'ank you! T'ank you very much! You won't be deesapointed!"

"We hope not." The small women added sternly, looking over her glasses. "Now, there are a few changes you have to make before you start working for us, but I'm sure they won't be a problem."

"Ov course not! Anyt'ing you need!"

Marvel smirked at Gru's excitement. Now _this_ was his old friend.

"Well, we are going to send you the blueprints for a new room you have to add into your lab, and there are a few new weapons you will have to acquire."

"No problem! Dat will be pieces ov cake vor Dr. Nefario."

"Good, good. And you will have to get rid of the kids of course, but that's a given."

"Yes, dat's a-" Gru froze mid-sentence. "What?" Gru's smile instantly disappeared and his eyes widened in shock. Never had Marvel seen his mood change so drastically.

"Well," the stern woman snorted. "You can't expect to keep them if you're working for us. No, they are too big of a distraction."

With a hand to his head Gru looked as if he was having trouble processing this new information. Marvel on the other hand, couldn't be happier. Taking this job would force Gru to give up the kids and his friend would be back to his old self again.

"Deir not- deir not a distraction, I can still do work vor E.G.O. and keep dem." Gru protested. But Marvel knew how big of a lie that was, and apparently so did the two corporate leaders.

"Don't be silly Mr. Gru, we can't have you tied down like that. You must have no other obligations." Mrs. Euryale explained.

"What's the big deal? Just give them back to the orphanage." Dante suggested, looking confused at Gru's reaction to such a tiny request.

Dante's logic made perfect sense to Mavel, and he was certain he knew what Gru would do, what anyone would do. It was a choice between three girls he had known for only a few months or his career he had been working towards since college. The choice was easy enough.

However, at Dante's words Gru seemed to tense and square his shoulders, making him look twice as big. His fists were clenched as he glared intensely at the two people in front of him. Euryale's bodyguards seemed to sense danger and they moved closer to the tiny woman.

"Geeve dem back? Deir my kids!" Gru stated, as if that change everything.

"But they're not really," Mr. Dante reasoned. "They're not related to you by blood so I really don't see the-."

Gru let out a low growl as he grabbed Dante's collar, forcing him backwards. "Deir still mine and day will not be going anywhere."

"Mr. Gru, calm yourself," Dante suggested evenly, managing to keep his cool despite the present danger. "You have to realize what's at stake here. If you do not do as we ask you will not be allowed in our program, and I know how important that is to you."

Slowly, Gru nodded and released Mr. Dante. "I am understanding dat."

Marvel sighed in relief. Finally, Gru was thinking rationally again.

"You will 'ave to leave now. I'm sure you will find dee right vyllain vor your program someday."

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Euryale demanded in a strained disbelieving voice.

"Gru!" Marvel jumped up. "Didn't you hear them? You're the right villain!"

Gru turned on him, his friend's eye boring into his own. "No Marvel, I am fearing you deed not 'ear dem. Dey want a vylllain wit'out kids. Dats not me."

Marvel put a firm hand of his friend's shoulder, shaking him slightly. "Come on Gru, think about this! All you have to do is-"

"I am not geeving up my gurls, Marvel!" Marvel removed his hand friend's shoulder in surprised. He had never seen Gru so absolutely certain about anything. "Not vor dis job, not vor anyt'ing."

Marvel back away from him slowly, not sure if his old friend he used to know even existed anymore.

"Well, if that's how you feel Gru, then you obviously are too weak to carry out one simple order. We misjudged you, you are not worthy of working for us." Mrs. Euryale determined.

Gru turned his cold eyes on her. "I suppose you will 'ave to find someone else den. I doubt deir ees a better vyllain den me though… well, good luck wit' dat."

The phrase 'if looks could kill' entered Marvel's head as he watch Euryale glower at Gru and then straighten up to leave.

"Come on Mr. Dante," she called brusquely. "We have wasted enough time here."

Before leaving Dante walked up to Gru, a sour expression on his face. "Those children have made you weak Gru, but if you ever get your priorities in order, Dr. Marvel has our number. Give us a call; we might have something for you. Talent like yours shouldn't be wasted."

Gru nodded, but Marvel had a feeling they would never receive a call from the super villain.

The two leaders of E.G.O. left the room and it wasn't long before Marvel heard the front door open and close behind them.

Marvel couldn't believe what had just happened, he had been so close… and suddenly everything was gone. In dazed defeat Marvel collapsed back on his chair, looking everywhere but Gru. How could he friend do this to him? Marvel had risked everything to give Gru this chance and the super villain had just cast it aside. Marvel couldn't understand why, he couldn't even begin to comprehend…

"Dad?" Margo called, sticking her head into the room. "Is everything okay? We heard yelling."

In a moment of fury Marvel stood up and walked briskly to the other corner of the room, facing the fire place so he wouldn't have to look at the girls who destroyed Gru's career, or the man who let them.

Gru sighed heavily, but when he spoke to the girls his voice was surprisingly soft, completely different from the tone he used with Dante and Euryale.

"Evert'ting fine gurls. You can come een, eets okay."

Curiously, Marvel looked over his shoulder to see the girls hesitantly entering the room, worried looks on their faces. This made Marvel wonder, how much did they hear?

The oldest girl looked uncharacteristically guilty as the children approached their father. "Did you lose the job because of us?" Margo blurted out. "Dad, we're sorry, we didn't mean-"

"Margo," he cut her off gently. "It ees no fault ov you gurls."

At first, Marvel thought Gru was lying to the girls, but then he realized Gru believed himself to be telling the truth.

"But-" Margo tried again.

Gru took her hand and squeezed it lightly. The three girls stared up at him with wide worried eyes, hanging on his every word.

"I just chose you gurls ovair dee job, dats all."

Marvel, slightly amazed, realized Gru truly did not believe the girls were at fault. The super villain knew it had been completely his decision, and he didn't resent the girls in the slightest.

"But you really wanted that job Dad!" Margo protested.

Gru shrugged. "Eet would 'ave been nice… but den I would 'ave been working all day and I would 'ave seen less of you gurls."

"Really? So… you really don't mind?" Margo asked cautiously.

Gru chuckled at her hesitation. "Why would I? I became dee wurlds greatest villain wit'out deir help, why would I need eet now?"

"Yeah, who needs them!" Edith agreed.

"So, you're not sad Daddy?" Agnes asked, starting to smile as she felt the tense atmosphere lifting.

Gru picked her up and sat her on his lap. The super villain's blue eyes shining with nothing but joy, and although he looked for it, Marvel couldn't even find a hint of regret.

"Do I look sad to you?" he teased lightly.

Agnes seemed to think the question over before she reached up and used her fingers to pull the corners of his mouth into a smile.

She giggled at the now strained expression on his face before deciding. "Nope!"

The four of them broke into laughter as Marvel watched from a distance.

The Doctor feel like there was something in front of him he couldn't see, something invisible that would make Gru's actions completely logical. Dr. Nefario seemed to see it, perhaps even understand it. So why couldn't he?

The laughing started to subside, Marvel noticed Gru was the last to stop.

"What about Marvel?" Margo asked quietly, and the Doctor turned away so they wouldn't see him watching. "Is he mad at you?"

Marvel knew Gru's eyes would be on him now and he pretended to be interested in a photograph on the mantel. It was a picture of Gru and the girls at some park, but in the picture Gru eyes weren't on the camera, but his youngest girl. Edith and Margo were on the ground, but Agnes was standing precariously on the swing and Gru was watching her carefully in case she were to fall.

"Probably…" Gru agreed. "But maybe one day he weell understand…"

"Understand what?" Edith asked, but she didn't get an answer.

However, Marvel knew exactly what Gru was talking about. He was talking about that invisible reason, the one that cause Gru to watch out for Agnes's safety instead of looking at the camera, the one that cause him to smile when talking to the girls, to ignore his important guests in order to make them dinner, to give up the most important opportunity of his career…

Nefario said Gru cared about the girls more than his own career, but his career was his life. At least, that's what Marvel had thought. However, after what he had seen tonight it was obvious Gru had changed, and this time for good. The girls weren't just some experiment or a phase he was going though; they couldn't be, not after what he gave up for them. And Marvel realized, for some impossible unimaginable reason, those small girl's weren't just an important part of his life, they _were_ his life.

As disgusted as Marvel should be at this revelation, he just wasn't. He had wondered in the beginning how it was possible that Gru could be so content with an average lifestyle when he could be so much more, but he realized now that Gru's life never had been, nor never would be average. Marvel had been so upset about what Gru had done, turning down such an incredible offer, that he hadn't truly realized what Gru had done. Gru had turned down an incredible offer.

The offer of the century, the one any villain would give their right eye for, and Gru turned it down. Marvel had never seen, nor could ever imagine any villain doing such a thing, and yet Gru did it so easily. Mr. Dante had said that the girls made him weak, venerable, but Marvel found himself disagreeing. Whatever that invisible reason was that made the girls the center of Gru's world, it had in fact made him a stronger. Gru was the greatest villain Marvel had ever met, and it wasn't because of his army of minions or his numerous weapons, but because of those three little girls.

When Marvel turned to face Gru he suddenly felt no hatred towards his friend, and surprisingly lacked any animosity towards the children. He still didn't understand why these children meant so much to him, or how it was possible they could change him so drastically and in such a short period of time, but he was started to except that he would probably never know. The point was it had happened, and could never be undone.

"Gru," Marvel began and the man tense at his name, thinking shouting would follow. "I don't understand, not one bit." Marvel shook his head, a slight smile actually forming on his lips.

"Marvel, I know you were 'oping dis would go deefferently-"

The doctor held up his hand to silence him. "You have no idea. I never thought in a million years you would turn down an offer like that, but then again, you were always surprising me with those crazy ideas of yours back in college. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised." Marvel grinned lopsidedly, and Gru cautiously returned the gesture.

"I just have to ask one favor," Mavel requested.

"Sure, what ees eet?"

"Not from you Gru," Marvel bent down so he was eye level with the girls. Automatically, Marvel saw Gru tense and this made laugh inwardly. What did Gru think he was going to do? Say something to hurt the girls? No way, especially not with him standing watch like that. He saw how protective Gru was over the girls, and Marvel actually valued his life, thank you.

The girls watched him with interest, no hint of fear despite knowing he was a 'bad guy'. But then again, he shouldn't be surprised, just look at who their Dad is.

"I need you girls to do something to me. Your Dad is a great villain, maybe even the best. But even the best need some help sometimes. I need you to promise me you are going to keep him on his toes, and keep him from getting lazy. You have to make sure he defends his title, can you do that for me?"

The three girls were all grinning by the time Marvel finished his speech, and out of nowhere he realized he was smiling too. He wondered briefly if the girl's smiles could be contagious.

"You bet!" Edith agreed quickly.

"You can count on us." Margo assured him.

"Yeah!" Agnes chimed in, and in her excitement squirmed out of her father's lap and attached herself to Marvel's leg in a never-ending hug.

Marvel blinked and stared down at the little girl, afraid to make any movements. The red-haired doctor looked up at Gru for help only to see his friend chuckling at his expense.

"You're going teh need a crowbar," Gru suggested, and even through his uncertainty with the situation Marvel couldn't help but crack a smile.

* * *

"Goodbye Marvel, make sure you are coming back soon," Gru told him as Marvel exited the large house.

"I'm not sure how soon I'm going to visit. I'm probably going to wake up tomorrow and think this was a just an impossible dream." Marvel laughed at his own joke and so did Gru. "But I will be back, you can count on that." As he started walking down the steps he called up to the children. "Bye Gru's children who I won't think will exist tomorrow!" He waved.

He heard high-pitched laughter at his ridiculous goodbye and grinned, he found he really enjoyed making the children laugh and was doing it on purpose more and more often.

"Goodbye, see you soon!"

"Bye Marvel!"

"Gwoodbye Uncle Marvel!"

That last goodbye had been from the youngest girl, and its content made him pause mid-step. No one had ever called him that before. Uncle Marvel? It had a nice ring to it. He grinned to himself, turned back one more time, and waved.

Maybe he would come back sooner then he thought.

**Okay, this was NOT supposed to be this long. Probably about half its length actually, but I just kept getting more and more ideas… so sorry it took so long to get up, but I just couldn't stop typing. **

**I decided to give Edith a talent for remembering things about weapons. She doesn't really seem like a studious person to me but the things you are actually interested in are the ones you remember stuff about. **

**And Marvel, he's kinda adorable... As I continued to write I started too really like the guy. I think all the other villains are horrible (which is how I wanted them) but Marvel's cool. Idk, I just wanted an outsiders opinion on Gru's new family, and who better but someone that used to know Gru. And to put more pressure on the situation I added the people from E.G.O. Oh and anyone who can guess where I got E.G.O. (evil genious organization) from can win… Idk? Gru's freeze ray for a day. Only a day though, he's going to need it in the morning for when he gets coffee. **

**Euryale- one of the three Gorgon sisters. **

**Dante- from the book Dante's Inferno. **

**Grunt and Grack-completely made up.**

**Marvel- well, personally I think Gru stands for Gruesome so Marvel stands for Marvelous.**

**Please review! Oh and take the Despicable Me poll on my profile. It will help me decide what to write for future chapters!**


	3. Life Lessons

**Hi again guys! I know your probably expecting some massive one shot like usual, but I'm sorry to say this is just a short 2 and a half paged one this time. I'm working on other much longer chapters (two of them actually) but my cousins were here for a week and during that time I couldn't write so they are going to take longer than usual. However, last night my brain kind of exploded and this came out. I've been thinking of the concept all day. Anyway, I wasn't going to post it, but I felt bad about taking so long with the next chapter and I decided to give you at least SOMETHING. This one takes place in the distance future (something didn't think I would be writing for this fic). So I hope you enjoy this really random one-shot, and I'll see you next chapter where the girls are young again. **

**Disclaimer: ****Despicable me belongs to illumination entertainment and universal.**

Chapter 3: Life Lessons

"I just… I don't know what to do Margo. My sister didn't deserve what those girls did to her, but- but- I don't know what I can do to help her."

Margo put down her coffee and looked across the table at her coworker. "Well, you're not going to let them get away with it are you?"

"Wha- what are you talking about?" Jane sniffed, whipping a tear from her cheek.

Margo narrowed her eyes, but spoke calmly. Jane was a sweet unassuming girl and a good friend of Margo's. They were both seniors in college and worked together at the local convenience store for the summer. "If someone did that to any of my sisters I would make them pay… I would get revenge in the worse way I knew how." Margo's eyes glowed and Jane gaped at the protective and dangerous tone in her voice.

"I-I could never do something like that!" she squeaked. "I'm surprised you would be the one to suggest revenge… your always so kind and patient with people." Jane's tone became lecturing, "getting back at people is never the way. Violence… or whatever you're suggesting will never solve anything!"

Margo shook her head, a cruel glint in her eye. "No, but it will make you feel better… and your sister too. And if those girls know you are willing to fight back then they will stop causing problems for Claire, especially if you hit them where it hurts."

"Margo! This isn't like you!"Jane gaped in disbelief. "I know what they did was… horrible, but your suggestion isn't any better! What would your parents say if they heard you talking like that?"

Unexpectedly for Jane, her comment made Margo burst out into laughter. "My Dad? Jane, you have no idea. Just be glad you will never meet him, I don't think you could handle it."

"What are you talking about?"

Margo managed to get her laughing under control, but she still had a slight smirk on her face. "Let's just say my sisters and I weren't brought up on based on…" She paused, searching for the word, "_morals_."

Jane just stared at her, forgetting her coffee.

"I know that must sound horrible to you, but that's just how we grew up."

"So… your Dad didn't care what you did?" Jane looked at her with pitting eyes.

"No! It's not like that! It's just- he- we didn't-gah!" Margo exploded in frustration. "THIS is why I don't explain my childhood to people, they just don't understand- they _can't_." Margo took a calming breath and tried again. "My father just had a different way of doing things, and although morals weren't important to him, we were. Family, that's what matters to us. We weren't taught the right thing to do if someone drops twenty bucks on the ground, but if someone messes with one of our own, we protect them. And we make sure it can _never_ happen again." Margo ended her speech by taking another sip of her coffee, her eyes alight with fire.

Jane swallowed. "I think I get what you're saying… so if someone hurt one of your sisters…"

"I would make sure they get what they deserve, we all would."

"Edith I can see, but not Agnes," Jane denied, having met her younger sweeter sister.

"You'd be surprised. She's actually pretty decent with a gun… she's better with hand-to-hand combat though…" Margo mused to herself, not noticing the vital mistake she made.

"A gun!" Jane shrieked, nearly falling out of her chair. "Exactly what kind of revenge are you talking about?"

Margo blushed sheepishly, she had meant something non-lethal like a freeze ray, but Jane didn't know that.

"Umm, that's not what I meant. It's not like I'd kill someone…" Margo thought for a moment. "Not unless they really deserved it," she amended. "I was just trying to prove a point. My sisters and I were all raised the same way, and although Edith is usually the more violent one, we are all willing to do what it takes to protect each other. Besides… its better we take care of it then if our Dad tried to step in. Now THAT would get messy." Margo grinned to herself.

"Wha-what do you mean by that?"

"Umm…" Margo tried to think of a way to explain what her Dad would do without scaring her. However, she couldn't figure out a way to sugarcoat her Dad's actions, so she just gave up. "You don't want to know, really."

"No offence Margo, but your dad doesn't seem like a good guy."

"Oh, he's not." Margo informed her nonchalantly, taking another sip of her coffee.

Jane stared at her friend wide-eyed for a few moments before looking back down at her own drink.

A few minutes past before Jane spoke again, softer this time. "Margo… I think I need to do something about this. I think I need to talk to my sister and my parents. Those girls cheated her out of everything, she has no money or job anymore, and she might even lose her home. I think we need to take this to court. Is that- is that what you would do?"

Margo beamed at her friend proudly, happy she was started to show some backbone. "No, that's not what I would do, but my first instinct would make my father very proud, and like I said- he's not a good guy. So I think you're better off going with your idea."

Jane nodded numbly. "Thanks for talking to me. You've given me a lot of courage, though I'm not as brave as you. But your right, I can't just let my sister take this lying down. She has to fight, or if she can't, I'll have to fight for her."

Margo smiled encouragingly at her.

"Just one thing… will you help me Margo? I've never done anything like this before." She looked up at her friend hopefully, biting her lip.

"Sure, I'll help you organize everything you need and gather all the proof you have against them. Claire will win this case Jane."

And if they didn't win Margo had a few favors she could call in, knowing the ins and outs of the villain world had its advantages. Yes, perhaps that could be considered cheating, but her father always taught them cheating was the best way to win. Even though right and wrong seem to blend together for Margo and her sisters, she didn't mind how they were raised. Their father, although he had skipped most of the conventional life lesson, had taught them that family was what truly mattered.

And unbeknownst to the three girls, they had been the ones to teach Gru that same lesson all those years ago.

**So basically I wanted to write this to test out older Margo. I wanted to show how being a daughter of a super villain who doesn't have many morals would affect her. And I used Margo instead of Edith because Edith is who you would suspect to be this cut-throat, but I wanted to show that even patient level-headed Margo could make a pretty decent villainess. And so could Agnes.**

**And Margo is a little a little extra violent in this, but that's because they are talking about someone hurting her sisters, not just someone being a jerk to her. And Margo is already very protective of her sisters. If someone had hurt their family I think revenge would be the first thing on the girl's minds. The "violence never solves anything" speech was never given to them by their father.**

**And sorry about the grammar, no beta this time. I just wanted to get this out quickly so I could work on something else. **

**And thanks for voting in my poll everyone! I'm already working on the winner, and thinking about how I can make the rest possible. Also, people were curious on where I got E.G.O. (the evil genius organization) from in the last chapter. I'm happy no one got it, I already felt bad about stealing it. Anyway, it's not Anton Ego from ratatouille. It's actually an organization with the same name and acronym from Lilo and Stitch the series that Jumba is a part of. **

**Please let me know what you thought!**


	4. Some Parents

**Finally this is out! There are many reasons why this took so long, which I'll explain afterwards. I swore to myself that I would never make a chapter as long as chapter 2. This wasn't quite as long, but it was getting very close. I even made an outline for this! An outline! I've never done that for a story, I barely do it for essays. I usually just write, but this chapter would have been all over the place had I done that. **

**I want to thank Beachcat for being the beta for this story. She really did an amazing job!**

**So, here you go. I really hope you enjoy it. **

Chapter 4 Some Parents

"Come on Daddy! Hurry!" Agnes called from inside their rocket-powered car.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. Keep a hold ov your horses." The super villain called up to his youngest as he escorted his other two children into the car. "Ugh. Why am I doing dis again?" he asked himself.

"Because Agnes's class needed an extra chaperone for their field trip and no one else's parent would volunteer. Then she did the 'sad kitten' eyes and you agreed."

Sighing in defeat, Gru looked down at his oldest. "You don't 'ave to remind me."

Margo shrugged. "Well, you asked," she informed him before climbing into the vehicle after Edith.

Inside, Agnes was bouncing up in down with excitement.

"This is going to be the best field trip ever! I've never been to the zoo before! And I get to be with Daddy! We are going to see the lions and… and elephants and the unicorns!" Agnes giggled; her smile a wide as it could go.

"Agnes, deir are no-" Gru tried to correct her.

"Dad!" Margo made a silencing motion.

Gru seemed to realize his mistake and quickly corrected himself. "Deir are no… no… no places better den dee zoo. You are going teh 'ave lots ov fun."

Margo gave him a small approving smile.

"Aww, it's not fair!" Edith complained. "How come Agnes gets to go to the Zoo_ and_ be with Dad today?"

"Edith, you've been on a lot of different field trips, this is Agnes's first time!" Margo reminded her.

Edith just crossed her arms and sunk further in her chair. "Whatever."

Margo was also slightly jealous of her little sister, although she refused to show it. She'd never been to the Zoo, none of them had, and now Agnes got to go while the rest of them went to school.

Margo noticed her father's reluctance. It was obvious going to the Zoo with his daughter's kindergarten class wasn't high on his 'to do' list, and yet, he had agreed to go anyway.

"Alright," Mrs. Waterbottom began, turning to her parent volunteers. "Is everyone here?"

"There are only three of us. You said we need four volunteers for the school board to allow a kindergarten class to leave for this trip, didn't you?" a parent asked.

The teacher nodded. "Oh yes." She put her hands up to her face in worry. "I do hope everything is all right and he can still make it."

"He'd better," another parent commented. "If my little Joey has to miss the Zoo because of him, he'll be sorry."

"Have any of you met him before?" A third parent asked.

Mrs. Waterbottom laughed and shook her head. "No, no, I doubt any of you have met Mr. Gru. He likes to keep to himself and this is the first year associating with our school. He doesn't know a lot of parents."

"I see. Do I know his child by any chance?" the first mother asked curiously.

"I'm sure you all do," Mrs. Waterbottom assured them. "He's the father of little Agnes."

All three mothers' features melted into small smiles. Everyone who volunteered in the kindergarten class knew Agnes, how could they not? The little black-haired girl was the sweetest, most adorable girl in the school.

"Aww, she's such a cutie!"

"Wait, I thought her and her sisters were… you know…"

"A nice couple must have adopted them." One of the parents assumed, smiling.

"Good, her sisters could use some proper authority in their lives."

The door opened, and the teacher and all three parents were greeted with the sight of Agnes skipping into the classroom, more excited than usual. Behind her loomed a very tall, disgruntled looking man. His blue eyes were cold and his jaw was clenched, causing and angry scowl to appear on his face. It was obvious the man did not want to be here.

Gru followed Agnes through the door. He noticed the room held three more adults than usual. The teacher only hesitated half a second before approaching him excitedly.

"Mr. Gru! We are all very glad you could make it! I would like to introduce you to the other parent chaperones."

As Mrs. Waterbottom introduced them, Gru's eyes glazed over in boredom. He didn't even bother remembering the parent's names, but instead, he just gave them numbers in the order of which they spoke up. It made things simpler that way.

"It's good to meet you Mr…. umm, Gru was it?" Parent number one greeted.

Gru nodded and turned to the teacher. "'Ow long eez dis Zoo t'ing going teh take?"

The other parents looked taken aback as he spoke, but he was used to that. In fact, he secretly enjoyed catching people off guard with his foreign accent or cruel demeanor. Oh, the perks of being a super villain.

"Well, we're going to leave very soon and will be gone all day. We're going to be back at three-fifteen, so we'll end the same time as a normal school day." Mrs. Waterbottom informed him with an excited smile on her face.

Gru sighed in irritation.

"Do you have a problem with that, Mr. Gru?" Parent number two challenged.

Gru met her challenging tone with a dangerous glare, and she quickly shut her mouth. It wasn't as though Gru had a problem going to the Zoo. He probably would have had fun if it was just him and his three girls. Unfortunately, he was stuck with a classroom full of Agnes's whiny classmates and four other adults he could care less about. He wasn't big on socializing with others, especially non-villains, and the last thing he wanted to do was spend his day making small talk with other parents and keeping the kids from climbing into the lion exhibit… or more likely, resisting the urge to push them in.

He glanced towards Agnes who was playing with a couple of her classmates. It was too late to back out of the trip now, though; he had already promised her he would go. Besides, it was only one day, and he was the world's greatest super villain. It couldn't be_ that_ difficult for someone like him.

"No, leet's just get dis over weeth."

"That's the spirit Mr. Gru!" The teacher praised, earning confused stares from the other parents. "Once the bus arrives we can leave, why don't you four take this time to get to know each other?" Mrs. Waterbottom suggested. Suddenly, a child caught her eye. "Josh, no- don't eat that sweetums!" She quickly walked away, trying to get to the child before he swallowed the chalk completely.

"So umm, Mr. Gru," the third, slightly more timid parent began. "What do you do?"

The Super Villain coughed into his hand awkwardly before answering the question. "Weell, I'm actually a denteest. Yep, I just love yanking out dee teeth."

"That's… interesting." The second parent commented. "Well, I'm-"

"Yes there is!"

"No there isn't!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Mr. Gru?" Parent number two asked indignantly, seeing his distracted expression.

And in fact, Gru had stopped listening to her the moment he heard Agnes's distressed yells.

"Mr. Gru?" Parent number two tried again angrily as Gru turned and started walking away.

The large man came up behind the little boy Agnes had been arguing with. 'Nuh uh' and 'yeah huhs' were still being shouted between the two kindergarteners.

"What seems teh be dee problem 'ere Agnes?"

The little boy jumped at the sound of the deep voice behind him, whirling around in surprise the boy was face-to-face with a pair of long legs. Allowing his gaze to slowly travel upwards, the boys eyes grew wide as he finally took in the towering figure glaring down at him. The boy actually whimpered as he scooted behind Agnes for protection.

However, Gru had the opposite effect on the little girl. Her face brightened considerably as she beamed up at the large man.

"Hi Daddy!"

Gru automatically got down on Agnes's level so he could talk to her better.

"What ees dee matter?"

At her father's question Agnes's expression became downcast as she fidgeted with her hands.

"I said I was gonna see unicorns at the zoo, but Joey said they didn't exist." She looked up at her father with hopeful eyes. "They do exist! And I'm gonna see one! Aren't I, Daddy?"

Gru hesitated, not wanting to lie to her, but also not willing to disappoint her. Finally he made a decision, though truthfully, he didn't have a choice. There wasn't much else he would say that wouldn't wipe the eager gleam from her eyes. "What eez dis talk 'bout no unicorns? Where else would you see one but dee zoo?"

Agnes grinned and nodded her head enthusiastically. "That's what I was trying to tell him!"

Gru chuckled. "But dey are vhery 'ard to find, most people don't see dem." The Villain grinned at his brilliance. Now, when they didn't see a unicorn, Agnes wouldn't be devastated they didn't exist, just a little disappointed they weren't out that day.

"But you'll help me find one, won't you Daddy?" Agnes requested, completely confident he would.

"Err…" Damn, never if his life had one of his plans been foiled so quickly. How was he going to get himself out of this one? He couldn't say no, not to those hopeful eyes. Having no idea what he was doing, but knowing only one answer would do, he spoke. "Sure Agnes…"

"Pinky promise?" She held out her pinky, and he just stared at it for a few seconds.

She still trusted that silly pinky promise thing even after what happened last time. He knew how much a promise like that meant to her and he _couldn't_ break another one. He knew it was an impossible promise in which could only lead to her disappointment, but he couldn't refuse her either, not after encouraging her fantasy. Just like he had done before, he took the only course of action he felt presented to him.

"Pinky promise," he agreed, wrapping his large digit around her tiny pinky. She bounced up and threw her arms around him as far as they could go, and he returned the hug.

He had no idea what he was doing, and for some reason, he felt like her innocent bright eyes had conned him somehow. This promise seemed impossible to keep, even for him. And yet, as he watched his daughter leave to go play a game, he knew one thing for sure: Agnes was going to see Unicorns today, _no matter what._

He made his way over to the parents. He was afraid that if he if he continued to talk with Agnes he would promise her something even more impossible. Why couldn't she ask for something simple like… like the moon? Now, _that_ he could give her.

Unfortunately for him, the other parents had been listening. "You know, you really shouldn't make promises like that to your child, especially when you can't keep them," parent number two chastised.

"I am not reemembering askeeng vor your opeenion, t'anks," he responded dismissively.

The parent huffed. "I'm just saying it is cruel to poor Agnes. Do you break promises to her all the time? Poor thing-"

"_Don't_," Gru begun, his voice dangerously low, "talk teh me 'bout breakeeng promises." He couldn't help but think back to the all the times Agnes had completely trusted him, and how had let her down. As much as he regretted not making it to their ballet recital, nothing compared how he betrayed them the day he gave them up. "Beesides, I never found much merit een 'onesty…" he thought out loud.

"You don't see yourself as an honorable man, Mr. Gru?" Parent number one asked curiously.

Gru blinked and looked at the three parents, a crooked grin on his face. "Not 'onorable? Quite dee opposite actually… I am a man ov principle. I joost live by my own code eez all." His eye's gleamed maliciously.

His code may have been old fashioned, but the traditional ways were still well respected by his older colleges. However, he had been noticing changes in his code lately that he would have never have succumbed to before. A promise used to mean nothing to him. After all, a Villain who relies on others to keep their word cannot accomplish anything. But now, a promise made to his daughter was to be kept at any cost.

Out of nowhere, an idea came to him. It wasn't going to be easy to pull off, but then again, he was a criminal mastermind. If anyone could do it, he could, but he was going to need some help…

"Excuse me," he apologized politely. "I 'ave teh make a call…"

Finally, the bus arrived, and all the kindergarteners and chaperones filed into the vehicle. The teacher was the last one on, counted heads one last time before they took off.

Agnes sat in the window seat next to her father, closer to the back half of the bus. She was chatting happily, unaware of the headache her father was getting. Gru was used to silence. He had lived, not exactly alone, but with relatively quiet people like Dr. Nefario. When the girls arrived he had to make a big adjustment, and he was still learning to adapt to the loud and many times chaotic environment he was now living in. However, nothing could prepare Gru for the twenty-something chattering brats who felt it was necessary to scream to their friend on the other end of the bus. It hadn't even been two minutes into the bus ride, and he was already itching for his freeze ray.

Agnes, he noticed, was having a great time. Gru smiled warmly down at her when she had stopped talking and started singing instead. Her song made absolutely no sense, but he found himself chuckling at it anyway.

Fifteen minutes later, they had arrived at the Zoo. In this time the super villain did what he did best… he plotted. He had devised a plan that would help him make it through the day. Even though he had come with Agnes's class, that didn't mean he had to pay them any mind. He would just spend the day with her and keep himself far away from the annoying infants… and the kids as well.

He figured this was much better than his initial plan, which involved feeding the people who annoyed him to the carnivores. Unfortunately, he felt like this might ruin the trip for Agnes. But still, he never disregarded any idea completely, so he decided this would be plan B.

Soon they had entered the front gates of the Zoo. Agnes was so excited she was bouncing; taking her father's hand she dragged him from one never-seen-before thing to the next can't-miss-it event. However, they never wandered very far from the group, which had stopped at the first exhibit, the flamingos.

Agnes approached the crowed made up of her classmates, who paid her no mind as they gawked at the oddly colored birds.

"Mommy! Look at these birds mommy!" A blonde girl in pigtails asked mother number one.

"Joanne, mommy's on the phone," the mother shushed, and then turned back to her phone conversation. "Yeah, I'm still here…"

"But Mommy! They're pink!"

The mother sighed in exasperation. "Hold on- yes, I see that Joanne, but I'm busy right now-" She started yelling into the phone, "No, no, no! That's not what I told you to do!"

Gru watched Agnes try to get through the crowd of students, but when she couldn't she opted for standing on her tippy toes so she could look over their heads. She still wasn't tall enough so she bounced a few times, hoping she could catch sight of the birds.

The Villain walked over and grabbed his daughter around the waste and lifted her onto his shoulder. She squealed in delight as she left the ground, and she continued to giggle once she was safely placed on his right shoulder, one of Gru's arms continued to hold her up for support.

"Dere you go, Shorty," he teased.

"Look Daddy!" Agnes pointed. "They're pink! That's Edith's favorite color!"

Gru chuckled and agreed with his youngest. Although Agnes continued to stare with wide-eyes at the bright birds, Gru found himself quickly losing interest. He never did care for animals. Gru was animal person as much as he used to be a kid person; in fact, four months ago he hadn't been able to see the difference between children and animals. Kyle was the only animal he had spent time around, and most of the time was spent avoiding the sharp-toothed creature.

The class soon got bored with watching the birds sleep and fluff their feathers, so Mrs. Waterbottom herded them on.

Parent number one was still talking obnoxiously loud on her cell phone as they made their way through a few other exhibits. Her daughter had still not given up on getting her Mom's attention, but her efforts resulted in little success.

Agnes rode happily on Gru's shoulders, chatting away about anything she could think of. The thing that surprised Gru about himself was how willing he was to indulge her. Even though their conversations weren't as stimulating as the ones he was used to having with Dr. Nefario, he enjoyed talking to her. And despite being simple and far from his own interests, Gru always found himself smiling and laughing at the end of them. Honestly, a conversation about princesses shouldn't have been so entertaining. However, it wasn't the subject matter that caused him to love talking with her. The small girl found excitement in the smallest of things, and when she laughed it was hard not to laugh along with her.

The best part was, when Gru said something just to make her laugh… he would be rewarded with high-pitched giggles and a smile lit up her face. And then, she would look at him with her big almond eyes, and it was clear that in those eyes, he could do anything. There weren't many people in his life that looked at him like _that_.

The next exhibit they came to were the lions. Agnes squirmed on his shoulders, wanting to get down so she could get closer to the glass. Reluctantly, he placed her back on the ground and she ran to the front of the group to get a better look.

They stayed at this exhibit for quite a long time as the kids were more enthralled with the giant cats than any other animals they had seen so far.

Agnes and another little boy from her class separated themselves from the group so they could get a better look at the male lion. A different boy, at least two years older than the two five-year-olds, was already there, watching the gold cat. This new boy didn't belong to the class and Gru figured he was here with his parents, wherever they were. Although why the boy wasn't at school was beyond him.

"You two aren't afraid of the lions, are you?" The boy asked, and Gru didn't like the mischievous glint in his eye, especially not when he was talking to his daughter.

Agnes shook her head. "No, I like kitties!"

The older boy laughed. "These aren't cats! These are wild animals! And do you know what they like to eat most?"

The younger boy from Agnes's class shook his head, his eyes wide in anticipation. "No, what?" he asked nervously.

The child grinned crookedly. "Little kids, just like you."

The little fair-haired boy gulped, but Agnes just pouted stubbornly.

"Not true!" she protested.

"It is true! Just last week a lion broke out of the exhibit and ate two kids! My Dad saw it on the news!"

Gru frowned at the obvious lie. He hadn't heard of anything remotely like that on the news. However, it wasn't a bad idea…releasing all the animals was not exactly the crime of the century, but it would be hilarious to watch the chaos. People were so much more entertaining while scurrying around like rodents.

"Really?" the smaller boy asked fearfully, and Gru watched carefully for his daughter's reaction. Agnes could be very gullible, and the super villain was not going to let some kid frighten her with a ridiculous made-up story.

"What lion was it?" she asked cautiously, looking at the large cats in wonder.

Gru sighed, and got ready to intervene. Agnes was a clever girl, but she was still young and would believe almost anything she was told.

The older boy smirked victoriously. "The big one right there." He pointed to the male, who had taken this opportunity to stretch and yawn, showing all his sharp teeth. "Are you scared?"

The younger boy nodded and backed away from the glass cautiously, never taking his eyes off the beast.

Agnes watched the big cat with inquisitive eyes, before slowly shaking her head. "I'm not scared."

The older kid crossed his arms. "Well you should be! That lion looks hungry, and you two would make a perfect lunch."

"Nuh uh!" Agnes challenged, attempting to glare at the older kid, but her face was too adorable to be threatening.

"And to you know what its favorite food is?" the older kid asked, eyes gleaming.

Agnes's friend whimpered beside her, obviously not wanting to know.

"Little girls like you!"

"No!" Anges shouted, stomping her foot.

Gru smirked at Agnes's defiance. He would have stepped in, but he realized his daughter didn't need his assistance. She had believed the boy's story, but refused to let it scare her. Gru remembered multiple times where Edith had scared Agnes in this way, but now it seemed the five-year-old was learning. The stubbornness on Agnes's features reminded Gru of his eldest daughter, and it seemed Agnes had picked up a lot from her siblings.

Agnes was changing- no, the phrase was 'growing up'. She was learning to become more independent, and Gru felt a rising sense of pride, but also an inkling of sadness. Agnes hadn't needed him. He was there to help her, and yet no rescue was necessary.

"It's true! Any minute he is going to break out of his cage and eat you!"

"Maybe he'll eat you first," Agnes pointed out innocently.

"No, you're tastier."

"No, I taste bad, see?" She licked the back of her hand to prove it, and then made a disgusted face.

Just because a rescue wasn't necessary didn't mean he couldn't step in, if only for his own amusement.

"Not for a lion, to him you taste really good, like candy."

"Ah, but eef I were yoo I would be less worried 'bout dee lions and more concerned weeth dee monster dat lives et dee Zoo."

"M-monster?" the little blonde boy asked looking up at Gru, clinging tightly to Agnes for comfort.

"What monster?" The older boy scoffed, clearly not impressed, but slightly thrown by the tall man's sudden appearance.

"Weell, I probably shouldn't tell yoo dis… I don't want to scare yoo."

The boy let out a short laugh. "Nothing scares me!"

"Lots of things scare me…" The younger boy volunteered quietly.

"Vhery weell, I suppose eet eez only fair to warn yoo. Dere ees a creature et dis Zoo that isn't kept een any cages. Eet eez black and 'as long curved claws and sharp teeth, but dee worst part eez eet eez always hungry..."

"Yeah? How do I know this monster is real? I bet you're making it up."

Gru sighed dramatically. "I weesh I was, den maybe eet would be safer 'ere."

"If there really is a monster here, then how come I've never heard of it before?"

Gru clenched his teeth. He really didn't like this kid. "Because, all eets victims 'avent lived teh tell dee tail. Eet 'as large leathery wings so eet silently swoops down on eets prey- yoo never see eet coming."

"Have you seen it, Daddy?" Agnes asked her eyes wide and hesitant.

"Yes, one tyme when I was your age, keed." Gru nodded to the seven year-old-boy. "I was et dis vhery Zoo wandering all alone weethout a parent… just like yoo are doing now."

The older boy glanced around uneasily.

"All ov a sudden I 'eard a blood curdling scream." Gru chuckled to himself at the thought, his features darkening as his cruel blue eyes stood out against his dark circles. Feeding off the uncertain look flickering across the oldest boys face, Gru felt the malicious part of him begin to surface as he naturally fell into villain-mode. "Dats when I saw eet. Dat horrible beast 'ad descended on anot'er boy my age. He 'ad no warning except for dee claws which proceeded to tear heem apart." His voice grew softer, forcing the kids to lean in to hear what he said next. "…He was steel screaming dee whole tyme." The boy's unblinking eyes were latched onto Gru's own. "But do yoo know dee worst part?"

The seven-year-old shook his head, unable to speak.

"Dee monster didn't just swallow heem whole. He bit his 'ead off first, like he was eating a candy bar. Den he left dee rest."

All the blood left the seven-year-old's face. With a triumphant grin he looked down at the boys, and he wanted to laugh when he saw the younger of the two in tears. However, a thought occurred to him that caused him to freeze in place, his smile disappearing in an instant. Slowly, he turned to look at his daughter, whose eyes were wide with fright, desperately looking to him for some kind of comfort. Gru thought quickly, and with as much confidence as he could muster, he tried to banish her fear.

"But dis monster eez a special kind ov monster. Eet only eats leetle boys, not leetle gurls."

"Really?" Agnes asked hopefully, some of the fear already leaving her eyes.

"Yes, leetle girls do not taste good to monsters."

"What do we taste like?" Agnes's voice was more curious than scared this time.

"Bruzzel sprowts." He answered simply; pleased she seemed to be relaxing.

"Eww!" she shrieked. "Gross!" She was smiling slightly at the ridiculous idea.

"Yes, so dere eez no need to be frightened, Agnes." He hoped he wasn't too late and Agnes would accept his correction to the story. He cursed himself for getting carried away when she was standing right there, believing every word that came out of his mouth.

Agnes seemed to consider something before she spoke. "I'm not frightened, 'cause you're not going to let it get me, right Daddy?"

Gru grinned in relief and bent over to pick up his youngest child. "Dat's right! I won't let anyt'ing happen to you," he promised, and Agnes could never understand how far her father would be willing to go to keep that promise.

The villain felt a tug on his leg and he looked down to see the little fair-haired boy pulling on his pants. "What about me?" he asked through a terrified tear-stained face.

Gru flashed him a wicked grin before shrugging. "You're on your own, keed."

The blonde's face fell into desperation. Gru just chuckled as he walked away, leaving the two terrified boys in his wake.

Not long after Gru had finished his horror story did Mrs. Waterbottom decide it was time to move on. She got her students together, but, before they could leave, a parent stopped them.

"Adam? What's wrong?" Parent number two asked the little blonde boy who Gru had left just moments before. The older boy was nowhere to be seen, having run off in a hurry, looking over his shoulder every few seconds as if afraid something was going to attack him.

"T-the m-m-monstah a-and it's gonna… gonna…" The boy babbled incoherently through his sobs. The three parents and teacher spent the next five minutes trying to figure out why the boy was upset and then proceeded to calm him down. They hadn't understood the full story, but they gathered Gru had told him some story about a monster and it had freaked him out. Parent number two sent multiple death glares at the man, and perhaps if he was paying attention he might have gotten the message. Instead, he was more intent on explaining something to his youngest daughter.

Finally, Adam had calmed down and everything was back to normal. Parent number one was even on her phone again yelling angrily at a coworker.

They went to a few more exhibits and decided to stop at one more before they took a break and ate lunch.

Agnes was amazed at the sheer size of the elephants, and her eyes grew twice as large when they used their trunks to pick up their food and place it in their mouth.

Gru had finally picked up on parent number two's increased hostility towards him by the angry looks she was still sending him, and how she made a show of not talking to him. Actually, none of the parents had said much to him during this trip, which was a relief. Gru knew it probably had something to do with the intimidation factor, and also how he showed no interest in getting along with them. He had spent the entire field trip with his daughter or just stood back and watched when she went to go play with her classmates. If parent number two was mad at him, then all the better.

Gru was perfectly fine with her hostility… until she started taking it out on Agnes.

"Joey, get off that thing right now!" parent number two ordered her son in a sharp tone.

"Why?" The kid whined.

"Don't ask questions, just do what I say!"

Gru raised an eyebrow. He found it strange she would order him to get off the elephant playground. Wasn't it built so kids could climb on it?

Joey slowly detached himself from the playground as he slowly trudged over to where his mom was standing. Impatiently, the woman grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to where the class was watching the elephants through the chained fence.

Agnes, it seemed, had had enough of looking at the giant animals and had decided she wanted to try and climb in with them. She grabbed the fence and was able to get both feet off the ground and into the holes; however, she didn't have the strength or the dexterity to climb any higher. Her brows furrowed, and she stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. Gru smirked at the sight, wondering if she would be able to get any higher.

"Agnes, get off that!" Parent number two yelled as she forcefully removed Agnes from the fence. Gru's smirk fell into a frown.

"You shouldn't be on the fence, Agnes. It's dangerous."

Gru made his way towards the scene as Agnes stared up at the woman with confused eyes.

"But I just wanna meet the elephants," she tried to explain.

"Well, you can't. That's against the rules." The woman turned to the approaching Gru. "And you, did you just not see her on the fence? Or did you just not care? What kind of parent are you? Hell, what kind of person are you? Do you enjoy giving little kids nightmares?"

"Dat was fun, I 'ave to admit." Gru agreed, but there was no amusement in his voice. He was quickly losing patients with this woman.

"You're- you're horrible," she realized, her eyes narrowing.

"T'ank you, but dis eez not dee tyme vor flattery." Gru's eyes narrowed. "Neext tyme stick teh yelleeng et your own keed," he warned.

"I was trying to protect her since you obviously weren't doing it!" Parent number two defended in a shrill voice. "My Joey went to preschool with Agnes, I've known her for quite a while, and I probably know her better then you do!"

A low growl exited his throat as his eyes lit up with rage. He was a villain, he had a weapon, and he had _enough_ of this woman. Gru watched her expression falter as she seemed to rethink her words, but it was far too late.

Suddenly, he was ripped from his violent thoughts by a tug on his leg followed by a small voice. "Daddy?"

When he looked down at her he felt his face instantly soften. His anger for the woman shrank to a mere annoyance in the presence of someone much more important.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to meet the elephants," she apologized worriedly.

There was a sharp pain in his chest as he listened to his youngest apologize. What was he thinking? This day was special for Agnes and he was about to attack this woman in front of her. Gru had already come close to scaring her once today; and he wasn't going see those fear-filled eyes twice in the same day. No, he had to hold his tongue, keep his weapon hidden, and just spend the day with his daughter, like he wanted to do all along.

"Yoo 'ave not'ing to be sorry vor Agnes," he assured her with a warm smile. "Yoo were wanting teh meet eleephants?"

Agnes nodded, her eyes sparkling hopefully.

"Den yoo weell." He made his way over to the gate, Agnes following closely behind him.

"Excuse me! I'm not done talking with you yet!" Parent number two called, having no idea the fate she narrowly avoided.

Gru looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. "Oh trusting me, yoo are done."

He turned back to the fence and pulled out something small that resembled a pen. Whatever scathing comment Parent number two was going to say next, it died in her throat as Gru begun to use the red light from the object the cut the metal fence.

When he was done a large rectangle-shaped piece of the fence fell to the ground.

Agnes's eye lit up with understanding. "Yay!" she yelled as she ran towards the opening he made, excided to get closer to the large pachyderms.

Just in time, Gru scooped her up into his arms, not wanting his little girl to get caught under the feet of the large animals. They entered the exhibit, not even glancing back at the astonished adults and wide-eyed children.

The teacher was snapped out of her daze, when the other children began to follow. Mrs. Waterbottom and the other mothers concentrated all their efforts on keeping the rest of the kids outside the exhibit. Once in a while Parent number one or two would yell for Gru to come back, but he never even indicated that he had heard them.

Gru approached the elephants and most of them shied away, except for a big one who eyed them carefully, but didn't seem to mind their approach. Gru, surprisingly, liked elephants; after all, some of his most beautiful décor were made out of ivory. However, he had a feeling that his reason for liking them and Agnes's reason were very different.

Agnes was squirming with excitement and it was becoming increasingly hard to hold her. Before Gru got too close to the elephant he bent over to pick up a handful of hay and gave it to his daughter.

"Dis eez what dee elephants eat. Would yoo be wanting teh feed 'em?"

Agnes nodded enthusiastically and took the hay in her little hands, accidentally dropping a good amount of it on the ground.

As they got closer the creatures full attention was on them, and Agnes tentatively held out the food as far as her small arm could stretch. The animal seemed to understand she was holding something he wanted, and he reached up his trunk to take it from her. Agnes watched the trunk with a mystified expression. She was barely breathing as she waited for something to happen.

She squealed when the elephant touched her hand, and the mammal managed to grab its food before the five-year-old dropped it in surprise. Agnes had pulled her hand back, but she was grinning excitedly over how soft animal had been. A second later she reached out again, eager to touch the animal as it chewed on the food she had given it. Gru obliged her, stepping closer so she could pet between its eyes.

They stayed like this for a while, Agnes was ecstatic, being so close to the animal, and Gru was amused with how little it took to amaze her. Eventually, the elephant wandered away and Gru figured it was time to get Agnes back to the group so they could have lunch.

When they exited the exhibit they were greeted with astonished stares, but Gru just met their looks with a satisfied smirk. Agnes was unaware of the attention as she skipped in front of his father. Gru followed, his hands folded neatly behind his back.

"Eesn't eet 'bout tyme we deed dee lunch t'ing?" he asked the stunned adults absentmindedly.

"Can you believe-?"

"I can; he doesn't seem like a man to respect other's property."

"But, was that thing a laser?"

"How should I know?"

"It's just… he has that thing around our children, doesn't that bug you?"

"Of course it does!" Parent number two snapped. "I don't want him anywhere near Joey, and I'm sure you don't want him near Joanne either. Though," she mumbled, "I'm surprised you got off the phone long enough to notice…"

"What was that?" The mother dubbed 'Parent number one' by Gru asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing. We will just have to keep an eye on him for the rest of the trip. The one I'm worried about most is Agnes."

"Why her?" the quiet parent, unknowingly dubbed 'Parent number three' asked suddenly. She had been silent up to now, just listening to the conversation between the two other mothers. All the kids were eating and the parents had some time to themselves to talk. Gru was sitting with Agnes far away, out of earshot.

At her comment, the two parents stared at her as if she had grown two heads.

"Because little Agnes lives with that psycho!" Parent number two explained, as if it should have been obvious.

"Yes, but…"

"Haven't you been paying attention? He made Adam cry just for fun! He used a laser to trespass into an exhibit; do you know how illegal that is? Besides, he's just plain creepy. He looks like he would laugh if we all keeled over dead or something."

"I'm not trying to defend him or anything!" the timid mother squeaked.

"Good, because I doubt you want him anywhere near your son either."

"N-no, I just… I don't think we have to worry… about Agnes, that is."

"How can you not be worried about her?" asked parent number one incredulously.

"Well, _look_ at her. She adores him. And Mr. Gru obviously loves her." She turned to see the large man talking to the little girl. Not on his cell phone, not yelling at her, just talking. From his grin he was teasing her about something, making her laugh.

"All I see is an arrogant man who thinks he can do whatever he wants." Parent number two decided, barely glancing at the father and daughter.

"Well, maybe... but-" the reserved woman was cut off suddenly.

"Mommy! I want ice crweam!"

Parent number three looked down to see her son fixing her with a determined glare.

"Billy, not now, you don't need any sweets." She told her son reasonably, bending down to his level.

"No, I need ice crweam now!" He stomped his foot to show his impatience.

"The answer is no."

A devilish scream erupted from the kid's throat as he begun to stomp up and down. "I never get ice crweam, ever!" Sobs ripped through his throat as he fell to the ground and pounded the concrete as hard as he could.

His mother blushed in embarrassment, and quickly ran to his side.

"Okay, okay, fine. I'll get you some ice cream!" she assured him, her tone slightly defeated.

The kid instantly sobered. "Really? Can it be strawberrwy flavor?"

"Sure honey, you can get strawberry," she cooed, and he grinned. The mother and son walked towards the ice cream stand together while the two other parents watched them go, shaking their heads sadly.

"What a brat."

"It's not the kid's fault, you know. She spoils him. That woman is too soft, she doesn't know how to say 'no' and stick with it."

"Some people just aren't cut out to be parents…"

The mother next to her nodded.

Lunch was over and the class was once again visiting exhibits. It was getting late and everyone knew they were going to have to leave soon.

Agnes was walking behind the group of kids, dragging her feet a little slower than usual. To anyone else she would have just seemed tired, but Gru knew she normally had much more energy than that.

"Agnes? What eez wrong?"

The little girl thought for a moment, before finally looked up at her father with wide worried eyes. "We have seen almost everything, Daddy, but I can't find the unicorns! Maybe the monster ate them!"

Gru laughed. "Dee monster doesn't eat dee unicorns eit'er. Dey taste joost as bad to eet as leetle gurls do," he assured her, eyes sparkling with humor.

"But, then… where are the unicorns?"

"We 'aven't even seen dee whole Zoo yet. Don't worry, we weell be seeing dem soon."

With his assurance, Ages grinned brightly and grabbed his leg in a tight never-ended hug.

"Ack! Agnes, no! I'm goin' teh fall!"

He managed to catch himself before he did a face plant. With a sigh, he continued to walk, one foot after the other, Agnes still clinging onto his right leg happily enjoying the ride.

Gru caught up with the rest of the group and decided it was time to put his plan into action.

"'Ere," he spoke to the group for the first time. "Let's go dis way, we 'aven't seen dis part ov dee park yet."

He led the way, not even looking back to see if they were following. Agnes was, that's all that mattered. They did follow; however, as the man led them to some unknown destination.

They arrived in front of the Zebra exhibit, and Gru just grinned slightly, but said nothing.

It wasn't long before there was a loud ear-piercing shriek, and Gru moved to protect his ears from the offending noise.

As the shriek melted away, Agnes began jumping up and down in excitement. "Oh my gosh! There's unicorns! Lots of them!"

Agnes ran to the railing and almost threw herself over in her amazement. The adults followed her gaze, and what they saw made their mouths drop open. Every single Zebra in the exhibit was wearing what looked like a horn on their head. The adults could easily tell the horns were made out of paper, plastic or even ice cream cones. However, the kids weren't so critical. Unlike the adults, they weren't looking for the trick to the unicorns; instead, they were just enjoying the miracle.

"How in the world…" Mother number one breathed. She walked over to the sign, which was supposed to describe the animals found in the exhibit. Gru leaned over to read it as well.

Sure enough, the sigh read '_Unicorn'_. Underneath that, scrawled in red marker, was a graphitized '_Dave waz here'._

Gru rolled his eyes, but was impressed by the minion's attention to detail. This wasn't the type of job they were used to doing, and Gru was glad they were able to pull it off.

"You!" Parent number two addressed the super villain, wagging her finger. "You did this! Somehow…!" She obviously didn't know how to accuse him, but she was certain of his crime nonetheless.

"How could Mr. Gru have done this?" Mrs. Waterbottom asked reasonably. "He was will us all day!"

"Yes, I was weeth yoo, eef you're not remembering…"

"Oh, believe me,_ I remember_," she spat.

"Den yoo would know eet would be impossible vor me teh do anyt'ing like dis! I would need a… a dozen of workers, et dee very least, teh pull dis off weeth out anyone noticing." Gru chuckled. "And eet would be highly improbable that a denteest like myself would 'ave dat at hees deesposal. Dat would be reediculous!"

Put off slightly, parent number two crossed her arms and huffed. "Well, I may not know how you did it, but I know you did."

Gru smirked haughtily. "Good luck weeth dat."

Without a second glance, he left a steaming woman behind as he approached the kids.

"Hey keeddo," he greeted, lifting Agnes up and stetting her on the railing so she could have a better view. One of his hands supporting her back so she wouldn't fall off, he leaned up against the railing himself, making them both the same height.

She giggled in delight, her eyes still glued onto the unicorns.

"Can I go pet them, Daddy?"

Worried that she might figure out they were fake if she got too close, he shook his head.

"Not today, Agnes."

"But I want to see them!" She turned to him in surprise, not used to hearing 'no'.

"You can see dem joost fine from 'ere," Gru reminded her reasonably. "Okay?"

Agnes nodded and relented. "Okay…" Surprisingly, she didn't sound all that disappointed; her eyes still sparkling happily as she watched the 'unicorns'.

Gru had to admit, it was an interesting sight. The black and white animals looked agitated to have something foreign attached to their face, but somehow the 'horn' hadn't fallen off. Gru wondered if the minions had also used the super glue Dr. Nefario invented. If that was true, then the Zebras had better get used to their new look.

After Gru had promised Agnes he would show her unicorns at the Zoo today, he knew he had to find a way, even if it sounded impossible. But then, he thought, he didn't need a real unicorn, but an animal that might resemble one. Not a minute later he had Nefario on the phone, and then he had the doctor pass the phone on to his minions.

"So, Agnes, 'ow do yoo like dee Zoo?"

"It's the best place ever! I got to pet an elephants and see unicorns! Thanks for finding them for me Daddy." She threw her hands over his neck in an affectionate hug.

Gru chuckled. "You're wel-"

Agnes kissed him on the cheek, cutting the surprised man off. Then, she hugged him tightly around the neck one more time.

"You're the best Daddy ever." She told him sincerely, her head resting on his shoulder as she continued to watch the 'unicorns'.

Gru stared down at his little girl, at a loss for words. Slowly, the corners of his mouth began pulling upwards into a smile. A wave of pure adoration washed over him, and he couldn't believe how long he lived without feeling this way about anybody.

Affectionately, he squeezed her in a gentle hug.

"I love you, Agnes." He told her, completely unashamed.

"I love you too, Daddy."

After a long time of watching the Zebr-Unicorns, the class decided to move onto one last exhibit. Although, Gru thought with a smirk, nothing could top the mythical creatures he created.

Agnes was with her classmates peering into the fences looking for some sign of life, when Gru felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around in exasperation, expecting to find parent number two, but to his surprised it was the more introverted number three.

"S-sorry to disturb you, Mr. Gru." She apologized hesitantly. "I was just wondering… did you- did you create those Unicorns, umm-"

He gave her an unimpressed look. "I t'ought I weent ovair dis? I was weeth dee group dee entire tyme."

She shook her head. "No, what I mean is, did you really do it… for Agnes?"

Gur stopped short, not expecting this observation. "Weell," he began unsurely.

She smiled, and her eyes were strangely remorseful. "You're the only one, you know?"

"What was dat?"

She sighed. "Mr. Gru, why are you here?" They had completely stopped walking, and Gru was just staring at her with a look of confusion.

"I'm 'ere cause Agnes's class needed anot'er chaperone vor 'er to go, why else?"

"Why else?" she asked incredulously. "I'm here because my husband signed me up without even asking, I didn't get a choice. Mrs. Never-gets-off-her-phone." She indicated said parent with a nod. "Is just here because it looks good to help out at the school, and the other is here to avoid work. I know both those ladies very well, and none of them are here without something to gain."

Gru shifted his gaze around, looking for a chance to escape. "And why are yoo telleeng me dis?"

Parent number three just shook her head. "You don't get it do you? You're the only one that is actually here for their kid. You don't have to be here; you don't have something to gain like they do. And even though you didn't want to, you still came… for her."

Gru shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, something he was more used to making others do when _he _looked at them. "What eez your point?"

Parent number three blinked in surprised, suddenly realizing she didn't have one. "No point, really. It was just an observation… We'd better catch up to the group," she suggested, and Gru nodded.

The school bus was due at the park at any minute, and to kill time Mrs. Waterbottom allowed the kids to look in the Zoo's gift shop. Mr. Waterbottom was outside, watching the kids running around, sitting at the benches, or going in the shop. She was also watching the parents.

One mother was once again on her phone, her daughter Joanna had been asking for attention all day, and not once had the teacher witness the mother having an actual conversation with her child. The second mother was yelling, again. Her son, Joey, had picked up a toy at the gift shop to examine it, and apparently that warranted a huge lecture about respecting property that wasn't his. The third mother was quiet as all ways. Her son Billy, however, was howling at the top of his lungs because he needed three toys from the gift shop, and he needed them now. No doubt she was going to give in and give him want he wanted, like she had done dozens of times before.

Mrs. Waterbottem looked around, and at first couldn't see the father and daughter, but then she spotted them on a bench in the shade, sitting quietly together. Agnes was playing with her new stuffed animal her father had gotten her at the gift shop. The teacher remembered hearing the conversation about the toy. Agnes had been stuck between getting a Zebra and an Elephant, because to her dismay, they didn't have any unicorn plushies. Gru had told her she could only have one, and Mrs. Waterbottom mentally applauded him with not spoiling his daughter too much, lest she turn out like Billy. In the end, she had chosen the Zebra, saying it reminded her a little of the unicorns. Gru had just smiled.

Gru had bought two other things for Agnes's sisters; an elephant noisemaker, that Mrs. Waterbottom was sure he was going to regret later, and a notebook with a beautiful collage of animals on the front. It was obvious which one would go to which sister.

Mrs. Waterbottom watched Gru sit contentedly with Agnes, and after looking back at the chaos brewing in the gift shop, she couldn't help but smile.

She had been doing this job for a very long time, and she had met many kids and many parents during the extent of her career, and she had come to one conclusion: parenting is hard.

She had seen the hardships of parenting take its toll on parents and kids alike. And sadly, it's true; some people aren't cut out to be a parent. However, most people are… most people try, and even though they make mistakes, they learn, and things work out in the end.

But some people… some people are just born for the job. These parents don't just love their child; they connect with them, share their world, and discover who their kids really are.

Gru smiled, pointed to the toy, and said something silly, making Agnes giggle.

Some parents are like that. Some.

**Although he does good in this fic, I think Gru might have a bit of a problem with the over spoiling thing xD But who wouldn't with a daughter as adorable as Agnes?**

**Ugg this chapter! I was truly insane when I begun it. Basically, the idea was the winner of the pole on my profile, and I decided to make it happen. At the same time, I noticed that the hardest girl for me to write for was Agnes. Weird, I know, but I have a problem with her in my stories. I always accidently leave her out of conversations and I have to go back and add her later. I wasn't happy about that so I decided that I needed to practice writing her, and the school field trip idea was a perfect time. Hence the Gru and Agnes based chapter. Well, combining a character I'm not very strong with, and a plot which I didn't have many ideas for in the beginning, was not a good idea. I was truly stuck for a long time. Finally I got some ideas and I was able to start writing again. And, I am glad I wrote this chapter, because I'm much more comfortable with Agnes now.**

**And I didn't want to focus too much on the OC, hence the fact they are nameless, and for the most part descriptionless. They are more of an idea or a representation then anything. And I don't really think Gru cares about the names of the parents, which was why I thought it would be a good idea to give them numbers. I also thought it was kinda funny. **

**Edit: I changed Agnes's way of speaking since many of you made valuable points, and she doesn't do much baby talk in the film.**

**During the period I was stuck, I started writing chapter 5. So that's half way done, and hopefully it will be out to you guys soon. And since I actually know what the next chapter is going to be about, I can give you a summery.**

**Chapter 5 (currently untitled): A lab accident causes Margo to lose her recent memories. Although the amnesia is only temporary, it doesn't make waking up in a hospital bed to be greeted by an intimating strange man any easier. Nor does finding out this dangerous man is her new father.**

**Please don't forget to review! **


	5. Welcome Home

**Okay, sorry about the long wait you guys, but here is chapter five. Grab some snacks because this is a long one. Almost twice as long as chapter 2, which I vowed to never make a chapter longer than. Oosp…**

**Disclaimer: Despicable Me is owned by Illumination Entertainment and Universal Studios. **

**Thanks to beachcat for beta-ing this chapter. She did and amazing job in a short period of time, and I really owe her for that!**

**And it is officially the 28****th**** of September, so Happy Birthday to Gru! Consider this my present, but I guess it is more for the fans then for him. **

Chapter 5 Welcome Home

She hurt everywhere.

Her whole body ached and her arms and legs felt stiff and sore. She was completely drained of her strength and her eyelids felt like they were made of lead; she couldn't even attempt to open them, nor did she want to. However, as terrible as her body felt, nothing compared to the throbbing in her head. The dull, constant ache to her temple was almost unbearable and she tried to cry out in pain… but she lacked the strength for even that.

In what felt like an agonizing eternity in darkness, she found herself being pulled into unconsciousness once again.

* * *

When the girl woke again, the pain in her head was reduced to a manageable throb. Her body, although still heavy and sore, was responding to her commands once again. However, her muscles were still tender so she tried to keep as still as possible.

She laid in uncomfortable darkness for a while, trying to think of where she was or why she was there. Her thoughts were sluggish and it took her a while to even think of opening her eyes. Slowly, she blinked them open, letting herself adjust to the light in the white room.

She was in a hospital; that much she could tell. The reason why, however, was still a mystery. She didn't remember getting hurt, or doing anything dangerous recently. The orphanage, though not a very happy place, was pretty safe.

Taking a better look around the room, although even a small amount of movement made her cringe in pain, she spotted someone else only a few feet from her bed. Her vision was a little blurry because of her lack of glasses, but she could still make out the person. A very large man in a black jacket and striped scarf sat in the chair next to her bedside. His mouth was set in a deep frown and his eyes were glowing with frustrated rage as he glared down at his hands. She had never seen anyone with such a livid expression on their face; he looked like he wanted to break something… or someone.

She felt the hair on her arm begin to stand up, and more than anything she wanted the strange man to get up and leave. Although the girl was rarely scared of strangers, especially not without reason, waking up in a hospital only to find a strange murderous-looking man at her bedside was enough to make her heart race.

Suddenly, the man looked up at her, causing her to jump when their eyes made contact.

"Margo!" he exclaimed, jumping as well. He left his seat, quickly coming over to stand by her bed side. "Are yoo okay? 'ow eez your 'ead. Are yoo een any pain?"

Margo frowned at his foreign accent, unsure what to make of it, or him. But one thing was certain: it made her uneasy for him to be so close to her. Why was he acting like he knew her? It was all too much to take in at the moment.

"Yoo really scared me dere… I was fearing-" he broke off, as if physically hurt him to finish his sentence. Instead, he reached for her hand.

Panicking, she pulled her arm to chest protectively, her eyes guarded.

He stopped mid-reach, a confused expression crossing his features. Slowly, he allowed his hand to drop to his side. "Margo? Are yoo alryght?"

Margo couldn't help but notice the man's eyes were surprisingly soft, the anger she previously saw in them had completely disappeared the moment he looked at her.

"Who-" she began, her voice was raspy and it hurt her throat to talk. "Who are you?"

Margo could never forget the way his face fell, or how his features twisted into confusion and then pain.

"What are yoo talking 'bout? Eet's me!"

Margo's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Yoo… don't reemember me?" he asked in bewildered desperation.

Margo shook her head, a bad idea since her temple was still sore.

"But…but…" Was all he managed to say as he slumped back into his chair, a stunned dejected look on his face.

There was a long silence in the room as Margo continued to stare at the man. Everything that looked sinister about him in the beginning was just… gone. It was like _she _had broken _him_ somehow.

The door to the room opened loudly and a man in a white coat walked inside. Automatically, the strange man eye's darkened as he jumped up and advanced on the doctor. He was only a head taller than the physician, but he seemed to tower over the man like a giant. The doctor took a step back in surprise before adjusting his glasses and opening his mouth to speak.

"Mr-"

"Why doesn't she reemember me? What 'appened teh her?" The large man demanded; his voice much more gruff than when talking to Margo.

The doctor looked taken aback as he glanced at her and then back to the man again. "She doesn't remember you?" He then approached the ten-year-old. Margo didn't find herself tensing when the doctor came near her. Unlike the strange man, the physician was actually supposed to be there.

"Hello Margo, how are you feeling?" The doctor asked kindly.

"A little confused," she admitted, trying not to glance at the man behind him.

"That's to be expected. I'm going to shine this light in your eyes okay?" He did that, and after writing a few things down on his clip bored he spoke again. "She's doing much better and recovering quickly. She's very lucky; head injuries can be very severe." When the doctor spoke again his voice was gentle and less business-like, signaling Margo he was talking to her again. "I know this is all a bit much for you to take in now, but do you remember what happened?"

"No…" she heard her voice tremble and felt the back of her eyes beginning to sting. She refused to cry, she hadn't allowed herself to do that in two years, and she wasn't going to start now. However, the reality of the situation was starting to hit her, hard. "What happened to me, and who is he?" she asked, looking at the man claiming to know her.

"That's strange…" The doctor mused. "This sounds like a case of post-traumatic amnesia, but rarely will someone forget an entire person…"

"What do you mean?" the foreign man breathed.

"Well, usually only the events up to the head injury will be forgotten, and sometimes even weeks or months can be lost, but…"

"Amnesia?" the large man seemed to be thinking the concept over. "Dat makes sense den. I only adopted 'er four mont's ago… so eef she 'as forgotten all recent events…"

"Ah, I didn't think to check the date of the adoption. That does make more sense, although this severe of a case is still rare."

"Wait, wait!" Margo interrupted. "What are you talking about? I can't be adopted!" her voice raised and octave in her panic. "No, no, that's not right. No one has adopted me yet- my sisters… we are supposed to be together!" Her heart beat wildly in her chest.

Suddenly, the strange bald man was by her bedside, kneeling down to look directly in her eye. "Margo," his voice was surprisingly reassuring. "Edith and Agnes are outside wit' a nurse. Dey 'ave been wanting teh see yoo."

Margo could feel her breathing slow. "They're here?" she asked in amazement.

"But ov course."

"Margo," the Doctor interrupted. "Can you please tell us the last thing you remember?"

Taking a steadying breath, ten-year-old bit her lip in concentration. "I remember selling cookies for Miss. Hattie, and then getting ready for bed. Agnes and Edith weren't tired so I read them a bedtime story… and that's it- I went to sleep and woke up here."

The doctor nodded. "I see, you don't need to be afraid, but you had an accident Margo. You hit your head and are suffering from amnesia. You seem to be missing at least four months from your memory."

"Four months?" Margo gaped up at them, but after a second she seemed to recompose herself in a way that was mature beyond her years. "How- how did that happen?" Her hands were shaking slightly, but she griped her sheets so no one would notice.

"Well," The doctor began, hesitantly glancing up and the large man. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about Mr. Gru. You said she fell down the stairs and that's how she hit her head?"

"Dats what I told yoo, are yoo 'aving probleem wit' dat?"

"Well, it's just… the head injury I can understand, but she's covered with cuts and bruises on her arms and legs that she wouldn't get from just falling down the stairs. How did she get those? They are very recent injuries. "

Margo looked down at her arms, and even without her glasses she could see a slight purpling of her skin and a few cuts on her shoulder. No wonder it hurt to move so much.

"I am telling yoo, she fell down dee stairs." Gru responded stubbornly, crossing his arms across his chest.

The doctor sighed and adjusted his glasses. "I see… well, if you won't tell me, and she can't remember then I suppose I can ask her sisters." Hesitantly he added, "Do you think I will get the same story from them?"

Gru's eyes hardened and he seemed to bear his teeth. However, when he spoke his voice was so low Margo could barely hear him. "Doctor?"

Tentatively, the physician leaned closer to hear him. "Yes?"

"Don't challenge me," Gru continued in that dangerously low voice of his. "Yoo 'ave no idea who yoo are dealing weeth."

Obviously disturbed, the doctor straightened up, trying to pretend the threat didn't make him nervous. "That maybe true, but I'm not going to release her back to you until I get the full story. I'm not going to let her go somewhere where she can get hurt, or where someone can hurt her. For all I know, this has happened before…"

At first Gru looked utterly baffled, but then the doctor's insinuation began to sink in. Margo watched the large man's face quickly became red with anger. "You t'ink I deed dis to 're?" He roared, his hands twitching, as if itching to grab the doctor's neck. "'Ow dare yoo say dat! I would _never_- 'ow could you even_ t'ink_- I am 'er _father_!" Gru continued to shout at the wide-eyed doctor.

Margo stared on in awe; she got the impression the angry man was struggling to prevent himself from hurting the doctor, and quickly losing the battle. She honestly feared for the doctor's life, and a part of her wanted the physician to leave so he would be safe, but the other part of her didn't want to be left alone with the murderous-looking man. In the back of her mind she couldn't help but wonder if the doctor was right, and maybe she didn't really fall down the stairs. Maybe this man had been the one to hurt her, because after all, he seemed like a very violent guy who could easily be capable of such things.

"Mr. Gru, calm down! I'm just doing my job." The doctor reasoned, putting his hands up in surrender.

"And yoo are being vhery lucky I'm not doing mine!" Gru growled; his fists clenched so hard his knuckles were turning white. "I t'ink eet eez tyme vor yoo teh leave now, Doctor."

"Leave? Hold on a minute, I'm not done examining my patient!"

Margo gasped as the large man actually picked the young doctor up by the back of his white coat and threw him out the door. "Oh yes, yoo are done." Without even waiting for the young man to respond, Gru slammed the door.

Margo stared open-mouthed at the man's shaking back. He still had a hand on the door's handle and he was griping it so tight Margo could hear the metal creak in protest all the way across the room. The realization that she was once again alone with the enraged man began to dawn on Margo.

The ten year old was used to taking charge of a situation, and she was very good at keeping calm and staying in control. But now she felt utterly lost, like she was just going along for the ride and was barely managing to hold on. Supposedly, she had known this man for four months. He had even called himself her father, but when she looked at him, the word 'Dad' was the furthest thing from her mind.

Slowly, the man turned to face her, and Margo felt like a deer in the headlights. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't remove her eyes from his approaching form. He still had a frown on his face, although it had lessened somewhat, and she wondered if he was angry at her as well. Perhaps he was mad because she couldn't remember him? She stubbornly tried to keep her emotions off her face, like she had done many times before. She wasn't going to let him know she was intimidated by him; that seemed to have been the doctor's mistake.

He stopped next to her bedside and she could only stare up at him and hope she had successfully managed to keep the fear from her features. He reached for her and she flinched away, instinctually closing her eyes, waiting for something bad to happen. Margo heart leapt in her throat when she felt pressure behind her ears and on the bridge of her nose… but that was it. Opening her eyes she found the world was miraculously much clearer then it had been seconds before. Reaching up to the side of her face, her fingertips met with the corner of her glasses.

"Better?" The man asked.

She nodded numbly, noticing her mouth and throat had gone dry.

Awkwardly, the man sat back in the chair beside her bed and they both just looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

"Yoo really don't reemeber anyt'ing?" Gru asked, his question sounding almost like a plea.

Margo shook her head slowly, never taking her eyes off the man. "No… sorry."

Gru sighed. "Eets okay," he assured her in a gentle voice, and she found her hands had stopped shaking. The man didn't even seem mad at her, just sad. "Yoo must be vhery confused ryght now."

"A little," she admitted, not wanting him to know how vulnerable she was feeling.

To her surprise, he gave her this knowing look, like he knew she was just putting on a brave face. His unexpected insight unnerved her even more.

"Can you…" she began hesitantly, than finding strength in her voice she began again. "Can you tell me what happened? The truth?" There was no way she had gotten so many bruises and cuts from just falling down stairs, something bigger had happened, something the man did not want to tell the doctor. A part of her didn't want to know, but she felt like she had to ask.

Gru's eyes grew angry and frustrated again, suddenly reverting back to how he looked when she first saw him, but that look didn't scare her anymore. She was starting to understand it wasn't _her_ he was angry at. "Eets my fault. Two chemeecals were placed too close toget'er. Eet could 'ave exploded et anytime…" Gru clenched his fists. "But eet wasn't just anytime. Yoo were dere. Eet set off a chain reaction. I barely got teh yoo on tyme..."

It was then Margo noticed the back of his hands were red and burnt, and she wondered how far up his arms the burn went when she caught sight of a little red marks on the back of his neck above his scarf. If there had been an explosion then his whole back could have been scorched. However, there were no burn marks on her, just a few scratches and bruises from what she guessed might have been from flying debris. Had this man really put himself in danger to protect her like that?

No one had ever done something like that for her before.

A tight, guilty feeling clenched her chest, and she felt awful for thinking he might have been the one to hurt her. She looked at her blankets, not able to meet his eyes. "Thank you," she managed to croak out, her head still spinning with unanswered questions.

"No, don't t'ank me, eets my fault yoo were put een danger. I'm so sorry keetin."

Margo looked up at the unexpected nickname, but was even more astonished to see his eyes glistening. This unbelievably powerful man, someone so strong he was easily able to throw another grown man out the door, was close to crying. And not just about anything, crying over _her_. Strange butterflies appeared in Margo's stomach and she couldn't understand the warm feeling spread through her. She wondered if she should feel disgusted with herself for enjoying the knowledge that someone would cry over her if she got hurt.

Feeling a surge of bravery, she reached out to touch the man's calloused hands, trying to comfort him. Gently, as if she was made out of glass, the man closed his other large hand over her own. She found herself smiling tentatively up at him.

Although she still didn't know what to think of him, she noticed herself slowly losing her initial fear. His eyes were full of warmth now, and it was getting easy to forget the murderous expression he had on his face only moment ago. And the way he was looking at her, as if he actually cared… she felt a small amount of hope spark inside of her, something she hadn't had in a long time.

And as soon as she started growing comfortable with the situation, enjoying the idea of what the man who claimed to be her new father represented, she felt her realistic nature begin to extinguish the rising sense of hope. Reality came crashing down and she suddenly realized that she was holding the hand of a stranger. Without thinking, she quickly removed her hand from his, and although she could imagine the surprised look on his face, she opted for looking at the wall instead so she wouldn't have to see his hurt expression.

She felt her face heat up with embarrassment. She didn't know anything about this man. Even if he adopted her and her sisters that didn't automatically make him their 'Dad'. What did Agnes and Edith think of him? Was he good enough for her little sisters? So many things she didn't know, or rather, had forgotten. He acted kind towards her, but was violent towards the doctor. She could never completely forget that malicious look in his eyes as he fought back the urged to take a swing at the physician. She knew nothing about this man, and that meant she couldn't trust him. She was surprised at herself for letting her guard down so easily.

They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, both not knowing what to say to each other, when suddenly a crash was heard from outside. Two small children came bounding in the door, closely followed by a flustered young nurse.

"Wait, you're supposed to be waiting outside!" she called; embarrassed that she couldn't keep control of the girls. "You're not allowed in here yet!"

Gru stood up. "Dat's okay, I was 'bout teh geet dem anyway," he assured the nurse.

The nurse looked around in confusion. "What happened to the doctor?"

"He was forced teh take 'is leave. Margo weell be leaving soon she eez ready." Gru informed her and then turned his back to the nurse, expecting her to leave and close the door behind her.

"But I thought they were going to keep her over night?" The nurse continued in confusion.

"Eef dee doctor 'as probleem wit' when we leave den tell 'em he can come talk teh me." However, from the undercurrent in Gru's tone and the way he had treated the doctor, Margo knew no one was going to stop them from leaving.

The nurse just nodded and wished them a good day as she left.

"Hi Margo!" Edith greeted from beside her, standing on Gru's abandoned chair and leaning on the railings of Margo's bed. Agnes was below her, trying very hard to climb the chair her sister was on, but it was too tall for her.

"Hi…" Margo greeted slowly, happy to see her sisters, and glad that they, at least, hadn't changed.

Gru approached them, a light smile on his face as he reached down and easily scooped up Agnes and placed the small child on Margo's bed so she could be closer to her sister. He then proceeded to pick up Edith from his chair, sit back down in his seat, and place the girl in his lap.

"Margo?" Agnes asked, crawling closer to her. "Daddy said you got an owie, does it hurt?"

And there it was, 'daddy'. Agnes had said that word as if she had been saying it her whole life.

Seeing the worry in her sister eye's, Margo tried to comfort her. "I'm fine Agnes; it's just a little one. I'm okay now."

"The explosion was so huge it shook the entire house!" Edith described in excitement. "What were you doing? It's not fair! You always yell at me for going down there, but then you get to play with all the cool stuff!" Edith pouted, and Margo couldn't be more confused.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault!" Margo responded, but then hesitated, realizing she had no recollection of the event. "…right?" She glanced up at the foreign man for conformation.

"Eet was no one's fault. Margo deed not do anyt'ing wrong, but dis eez why I don't want yoo t'ree een dee lab, eet can be vhery dangerous."

"I don't understand. What 'lab' are you guys talking about?" Margo glanced from person to person, hoping for an explanation.

"Uhh, Dad's secret lair where he works. Duh, Margo, where have you been?"

Margo didn't understand much from Edith's explanation, but that's probably because she was still hung up on the first word of her sentence. Even Edith had taken to calling this man 'Dad'.

"Be nice teh your seestor Edith. Dee blast from dee explosion made 'er lose some ov 'er memories."

Edith gaped at her. "Really? What don't you remember?"

Margo adjusted her glasses unsurely. "Well, the past four months apparently…"

"So you don't remember last week in school when I was dared to eat a bug? I did, and now I get free candy from Mike's lunch for the next two weeks!"

Margo made a face. "No, but that sounds like you."

"You… ate a bug?" Gru asked Edith, his face a cross between amusement and disgust.

"Yep!"

"Margo? You don't remember school or having tea parties with Mr. Fluffy?"

Not familiar with particular stuffed animal Margo shook her head. "No, sorry Agnes."

Her younger sister looked down in disappointment.

"Fortunately, amneesia eez usually temporary. Eef we geet you 'ome hopefully some ov your memories weell be comeeng back."

"O-okay… sure." Margo agreed. Curiously, she turned to her sisters. "So, what's home like?"

Edith looked at her like she had grown two heads. "You forget home too? How could you forget that? It's too cool to forget!"

Margo glared at her sister. "It's not like I forgot on purpose, Edith!"

Suddenly, something seemed too dawn on the middle sister. "Wait- if you forgot home, then does that mean you forgot Uncle Nefario?"

Margo gave her a questioning look.

"Whoa… what about Dad, did you forget him too?"

Margo glanced up at the man in question and then back at her sisters before nodding hesitantly.

"Man!" Edith exclaimed. "You forgot everything! So, you don't remember the moon, or Vector, or even going to Super Silly Fun Land?"

"What are you talk-" she broke off suddenly. "We went to Fun Land?" She couldn't hide the amazement in her voice.

"Yeah! And you're going to flip when I tell you the rest!"

Gru chuckled. "Leet us not overload your seestor. Leet 'er ask some questions now."

Edith pouted and crossed her arms, but relented. Agnes crawled up next to her sister and Margo was happy to have the warm body next to her.

"Umm, okay," Margo began slowly. "So, you're taking care of us now Mr…" she paused, not wanted to get the name wrong.

She watched their caretaker's face fall drastically at her words, and it was a second before he managed to answer her. "Gru," he mumbled quietly. And then a louder, "yoo can call me Gru eef yoo want Margo."

"Margo?" Agnes looked up at her in confusion. "Why are you calling him that? Why aren't you calling him Daddy?"

Margo blushed and opened her mouth to try to explain it to her, but she had no idea what she was going to say. It didn't feel right calling a stranger 'Dad,' even if she technically had been living with him for four months.

"Eets okay Agnes; your seestor can call me whatevor she wants." Gru assured the little girl, saving Margo an embarrassing explanation.

She felt herself relax and let out a small relieved breath. Their new guardian actually sounded disappointed about what Margo's had chosen to call him, but he didn't pressure her, and she was grateful for that. Once again, she felt a spark of hope return. Her sisters really seemed to like this man, and not only that, but they seemed comfortable with him. Margo could see Edith's eyes shining brightly from below her beanie, where usually the little girl had her hat pulled so far down Margo wondered if she could see. Edith was obviously enjoying her place on Gru's lap where she could easily be a part of the conversation. Margo also noticed Agnes was without any form of her unicorn toy, something the young girl would always have with her when going to a strange place. However, for some reason she didn't seem to need that comfort anymore.

Feeling a little better, Margo decided to keep asking questions, hoping her memory would start coming back to her. "So, if you're our adopted Dad then where is our adopted Mom?"

Gru's eyes widened. "Well, umm…" he faltered, grasping desperately for an explanation.

Instead, Edith was the one to answer the question.

"We don't have a Mom, only a Dad." She explained nonchalantly, as if this was how it always had been and there was nothing unusual about it.

Agnes nodded happily, also not seeing anything strange about the situation, but Margo did. Usually it was couples who were interested in adopting children, not older men who enjoys scaring people a little too much to be healthy.

"Oh…" She wanted to ask to ask the obvious question that had been screaming at her from the beginning, but she was hesitant to do so. She didn't want to seem rude or upset the man, so she asked something else instead. "Mr. Gru… um, how long do I have to stay in the hospital?"

"Only long as yoo want. Eef you are feeling up teh eet, we can leave today."

"Can we leave now?" Margo asked hopefully.

The man hesitated. "Are yoo sure you're alryght teh leave? Yoo joost woke up…"

Margo nodded, not wanted to keep her sisters here longer then they needed to be. A hospital wasn't a good place for kids, and she knew her sisters would get in trouble here if they stayed for too long. Besides, she was eager to see her new home.

"I'm sure," she insisted firmly.

Gently, she lifted her legs over the edge of the bed as she sat up, trying not to move too quickly so she wouldn't hurt herself more. The change in position made her vision swim as her head gave a nasty throb.

"Margo, we can stay anothohr nyght." Gru informed her with concern, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"No, I'm fine, really." She assured him, easily making her voice sound more confident then she felt. Unfortunately, he gave her that look again, the one that made her feel like he knew she was just putting on a brave face.

However, he gave her what she wanted and relented. "Okay, but when we geet 'ome yoo are going teh rest."

She nodded and moved her left hand to brace herself, but before she could lower herself to the floor, there was suddenly a stabbing pain in her wrist. She hissed as she looked down to see the IV needle still imbedded in her skin. She paled as she began pulling back the tape, knowing that without the nurse's help she was forced to pull it out herself. It was a big needle and she felt a little woozy at the idea, but she had no choice if she wanted to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

She continued peeling the tape off when two large hands reached over to help her. She wanted to protest, worried he might remove the tape too fast and accidently pull the needle at the wrong angle. But before she could say anything, he had already removed the tape smoothly from her wrist. Margo marveled at how painless it had been, and allowed him to keep a hold of her arm. Handing control over to someone else was not an easy thing for her to do, especially to a stranger. However, for some reason she _wanted _to let him help her. A part of her actually enjoyed being the one who was taken care of, instead of the other way around.

She looked away when he removed the long needle and, although it did sting, it wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be. Margo was just grateful she didn't have to do it herself.

"Thanks…"

"Whoa, cool! That was in your arm?" Edith gaped.

Margo was sure if the IV had been in the blonde's arm Edith wouldn't have been so enthusiastic.

Margo managed to get off the bed without anyone's help, and as she landed the floor she paused, making sure she was steady on her feet. The lightheaded feeling soon passed and she was starting to feel better about moving around on her own.

"Dad, since Margo was in the hospital does that mean we get ice cream?" Edith asked as Gru lifted Agnes from the bed into his arms.

"What does your seestor being een dee 'ospital 'ave to do weeth yoo getting ice cream?"Gru asked in amusement.

"Well, this girl in my class, Tanya, when she got her tonsils out she was allowed to have all the ice cream she wanted!"

"I steell don't understand what dat 'as to do weeth yoo."

"Since Margo was in the hospital she should get ice cream like Tanya, and if Margo gets some, then to be fair we should have some too!" Edith explained with a pleased grin.

Gru chuckled at his daughter's logic. "I see…vhery weell, I guess we could stop et dee ice cream shop on dee way 'ome."

Edith and Agnes broke out into cheers and Margo smiled to herself. The four of them exited the room and attempted to navigate their way through the white hallways.

"When we geet 'ome I want yoo all teh stay out of dee lab vor dee next few days. Dee lab eez steell being repaired and I don't want you t'ree down dere, okay Edith?" Gru told them, looking at the middle child in particular.

"What?"Edith asked defensively. "I'm not going down there!"

Gru raised an eyebrow at her. "I am finding dat 'ard teh believe."

Edith crossed her arms sulkily, but Margo knew Gru had her pegged. Edith was always the first to do something after being told not to.

"I'm not going to be able to geet back to work 'till dee lab eez rebuilt, but I am going to be 'elping your Uncle weeth de repairs."

"So… you work in a lab, are you a scientist or something?" Margo asked, still trying to find out more about this man.

Their caretaker's expression grew hesitant at the same time Edith burst out laughing.

Margo glared at her sister. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

"Dad's not a scientist Margo, he's a super villain," she explained in a 'well duh' voice.

Margo blushed heavily at what her sister called him. "Edith!" she chided. "Don't say things like that, it's not nice!"

"But it's true!" she protested. "Right, Dad?"

The hesitant look remained on the man's face as he looked at Margo. "Yes, eets true," he admitted. He must have noticed the confused look on Margo's features. "Eet's 'ard to explain… yoo weell understand better when we geet 'ome."

Margo nodded, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What did he mean when he said he was a 'super villain'? Certainly, he didn't mean his job resembled the antagonist in comic books or cartoons? Sure, Margo had heard of real-life villains, but the chances of meeting one of those were slim to none. Not to mention they were evil. Unlike the cartoons, where the villain's plans were more silly then plausible, real super villains were truly dangerous. Margo couldn't understand why Mr. Gru would refer to himself as one. Was it some kind of joke, or a nickname for his real job? Margo decided to take his advice and drop it for now.

When they finally found their way out of the hospital, Margo was greeted with the disturbing sight. A large silver vehicle was parked next to the hospital entrance. The automobile didn't even look like a car; it resembled more of a tank or a disfigured submarine. What really caught her off guard, besides the size and design of the vehicle, were the two freshly dented cars on either side of it. Margo couldn't believe someone was so selfish that they would damage other's property just for a good parking spot.

Margo was ready to move on from the wreck, when suddenly their caretaker began walking towards it. Margo sincerely hoped Mr. Gru's car wasn't one of the two damaged vehicles.

Instead, he took out his keys and slid it into the lock of the silver tank. The lock clicked, and Gru swung the door wide open.

Margo gaped at the sight, her eyes wide with horror.

Edith and Agnes bounded into the vehicle; Agnes struggled a little with getting up the first step.

"Mr. Gru?" Margo found her voice at last. "This is… your car?"

He glanced at her and then back at the tank, confused by her hesitation. "Yes? Eez dere somet'ing wrong?"

Margo's gaze shifted quickly to the two wrecked cars and then back to the man. How he could be so nonchalant about the damage he caused? If this man was so irresponsible with his car, then how could he hope to be a good role model for her sisters?

"Come on, Margo!" Agnes called. "Time for ice cream!"

Margo looked up at her sisters who were peering down at her from the window at the top of the vehicle.

"You should be more careful driving, someone could get hurt," she told him sternly, her stomach twisting with unease at the prospect of getting into the vehicle.

Mr. Gru blinked at her critique, and then looked back at his the cars, as if suddenly realizing what had upset her. When he looked back at her, he was smirking fiendishly.

"Where eez dee fun in dat?" he asked, and then motioned for her to enter the vehicle. "Not teh worry. I built dis myself." He knocked on the side of the tank confidently. "Eet eez completely safe."

Margo narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but climbed in the vehicle anyway, knowing she had no other option.

The ride in the mobile was unforgettable. The rocket powered vehicle seemed to go, at the very least, twice the speed limit, but because of the sear size of the tank, Margo actually felt secure. If they had gotten in an accident she was sure they would barely feel the collision. However, she could hear the sounds of cars screeching to a halt to let them pass, and she involuntarily winced as two cars avoided a near collision behind them.

Mr. Gru pulled into a parking lot, and as he parked the car Margo could feel herself relax. The four of them exited the vehicle and entered the ice cream shop. Margo tried to ignore the stares from the onlookers.

Once they were in the ice cream shop, Margo was finally able to fully process what was happening; they were being treated to ice cream.

It might seem strange that such a simple thing astounded Margo so completely, but it did. The older girl couldn't remember the last time someone took the three of them out for a treat. It was something only kids with parents got to do, and being able to participate in such a normal activity was meaningful, and somehow satisfying to her.

Even Mr. Gru got himself a cone and they all enjoyed their treats together. The small cuts and bruises on Margo's body had stopped bothering her and her head no longer throbbed every time she moved, although, this could all have something to do with the delicious ice cream distracting her from her pain. In fact, Margo was enjoying her cone so completely she forgot something she usually didn't.

Poor Agnes never had much luck with ice cream cones, and Margo usually watched the little girl to make sure her sherbet ice cream never fell off. However, Margo remembered too late and all she could do was watch as Agnes tilted the cone in the wrong direction. Luckily, somebody else seemed to have stepped into her old role.

Gru stopped Agnes just in time, managing to correct her before she lost her treat. Margo was surprised, not by his ability to save the ice cream, but at the fact that she didn't have to do anything. She was so used to taking care of her sisters that it felt bizarre to be able to sit back and enjoy herself without having to constantly help them.

Margo still didn't know what to feel for this strange man. He was cruel, selfish and remarkably violent. In fact, he bordered and purely terrifying sometimes… but then, when he spoke to her and her sisters, he was none of those things. He was gentle and understanding, especially with Agnes. He wasn't cruel, not like how he was with the doctor. Instead, he was kind to them, even going so far as to buy them ice cream for no real reason.

Edith crawled over him to get to the other bench, and although Gru pretended to be annoyed, Margo could see the amusement in his eyes and her sisters could hear it in his voice. His violent tendencies displayed while driving and in the hospital were nonexistent now, much to Margo's relief.

When all the ice cream was finished they got back into the large vehicle. Margo cringed when their caretaker backed into a parked car in order to make it easier for him to pull out of the lot. Mr. Gru didn't flinch and his reckless behavior and neither did her sisters. Obviously, they were used to these unnecessarily malicious actions. This realization caused Margo to frown.

Mr. Gru turned down a couple different streets until they finally arrived in a fairly nice neighborhood. White houses with picket fences' lined the street, and Margo started grinning with anticipation. She couldn't wait to see her new house. She had been dreaming of this moment for years, and she couldn't believe her and her sisters were finally free of that awful orphanage. Now, she could live in a regular house just like all the other kids her age.

Her smile only grew as they continued to pass numerous well-manicured lawns; that was until, she looked ahead and saw a dark building looming in the distance. He grin faded as they steadily approached it. A foreboding feeling began to grow in her stomach, and her fears were confirmed when they pulled into the driveway of that sinister, almost haunted looking house. Margo looked longingly at the house to the right of the dark mansion, wishing desperately that they could have pulled up to that driveway instead.

As Margo stepped out of the car the grass under her feet was dead, only adding to the creepy vibe the house was giving off.

"Whoa," she began doubtfully, a bit of sarcasm in her voice. "This is like… your house?"

"Eet's yours too." Mr. Gru reminded her as he opened the door for them.

Margo approached the entrance to the house and was about to cross the threshold, when what she saw made her freeze in place. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at the choice of décor. The floor was carpeted with red velvet and a giant spiked ball hung from the ceiling. To the wall to the right hung a few disturbing paintings, and one large mirror with a cracked center. A suit of armor and collection of swords lined entranceway, and in front of Margo was a spiral staircase, which looked perilous to climb.

Margo felt more like she was in a museum then a house, the only difference was, there wasn't a layer of glass to separate her from the giant axe the suit of armor was holding. Her sisters ran inside like they owned the place, completely unfazed by the violent-looking decorations.

Margo didn't know what to think, she was shocked and scared, but more than anything, she was confused. Mr. Gru came up behind her, and in order to get out of his way she stepped inside. Margo jumped when the door closed behind her, the sound was more ominous then it should have been. She looked up at her new guardian, and couldn't help but notice how at home he was here. He seemed as if he was a part of the house, another dangerous ordainment that may or may not be just for show.

Looking past her caretaker she saw a collection of western-looking pistols, and to the left of that, three news paper clippings which were framed and hung on the wall. When she read their titles, everything seemed to come together.

'_What will Gru do next?'_

'_Gru strikes again!'_

'_Gru! Villain of the year!' _

Some of these clips had a picture of Mr. Gru, and although he looked younger, it was still unmistakably him.

Everything made sense now, from the interior of his house, to his admission of being a super villain. Margo had been suspicious from the beginning, but her sisters seemed to like him, so she hopped she hadn't been right. But she was: Mr. Gru was not a good guy.

"Margo!" Edith ran back up to her. "Do you remember our house now?"

Margo shook her head, glancing around again before looking back at her little sister. "No, I still don't remember anything." Margo understood Edith's amazement about her lack of memory. How could she have forgotten a place like this?

"Really? Well, this place is cool. I'll show you." To Margo's horror Edith walked over to the suit of armor and tried to pull the large axe out of its grasp.

The weapon wobbled dangerously and Margo cried out in concern. "Edith! Don't do that!"

She managed to pull Edith away from the weapon. It wobbled one last time before it stood still, its sharp blade gleaming hazardously. Margo's chest tightened at the thought of what almost happened.

"Margo, quit it!" Edith tried to shake her sister off. "I do this all the time! It's fine!"

Margo paled at her sister's words. There were plenty of weapon in this hallway alone that Edith would love to play with, and Margo didn't want to think about the rest of the house. They had barely avoided disaster just seconds after getting in the door, and Margo was amazed Edith had been living in a place like this for four months and nothing bad had happened to her. Ironically, Margo had been the one to end up the hospital and, from the look of this place, she had been very lucky her injury's hadn't been worse.

Edith got free of her sister and made another grab for the axe.

"Edith, do not be playing weeth dat, please." Gru asked, coming back from hanging up his jacket and scarf.

"Aww, but I'll be careful!" she promised.

"Eef you can't leeve eet alone, I'll put eet down een dee lab weeth de ot'er weapons."

"But you can't! I really like this one!" she protested.

"Eet's not really your size… I 'ave a Morning Star dat might be might be a better fit. Or some t'rowing knives maybe…" he pondered to himself, and Margo got the impression he wasn't joking.

Anger flared through her. Suddenly, Margo didn't care how evil this guy was, she wasn't going to let him get away with putting her sisters in danger. Agnes had run off somewhere the moment she stepped in the door, and who knew what kind of trouble the five-year-old could be getting into right now.

"Do you really think this is an appropriate place for little kids?" she asked patronizingly, "'cause, uh, it's not."

Margo did her best to glare up at him, trying to keep the apprehension out of her eyes. At the same time, Gru stopped his mental list of weapons for Edith, and looked down at the older girl.

Gru's questioning look melted into a warm smile, causing Margo's glare to lose some of its fire. "Yoo said dat same t'ing dee furst tyme too." His voice was soft, and she could hear the gentle humor in his tone.

"I did?"

"Yes, and dee 'ouse was even more dangerous back den."

More dangerous? She couldn't even imagine.

Gru got down on one knee so he could address her better. Edith had quickly lost interest now that she was no longer being addressed, and wandered into the other room in favor of something more entertaining. To Margo's relief, she had forgotten the axe… for now.

"'Ow eez your 'ead?" Gru asked, his forehead creasing with worry.

"It's fine… it doesn't hurt anymore." She fidgeted under his gaze

"Dats good to 'ear." There was an uncomfortable pause before he spoke again. "Yoo steell don't reemember anyt'ing, do yoo?"

Margo shook her head; a wave of panic washed over her and her eyes begun to sting with the threat of tears. If she could only remember, then maybe things would make more sense and she would know what to do. _What if_, she thought frantically,_ I never get my memories back?_

Mr. Gru gripped her shoulder gently, and she flinched in surprise, looking up into his blue eyes. "Don't worry yourself, Margo. Everyt'ing is going teh be fine. Your memories weell come back on dere own. Joost geeve yourself tyme." His rough, accented voice was strangely reassuring. His words were the exact right thing she needed to here, unfortunately, they meant very little coming from him.

Margo crossed her arms defensively. "I know that," she snapped. Her eye's traveled up to the news paper clippings on the wall. "So, you really are a super villain?"

Margo's cold untrusting tone caused Gru to remove his hand from her shoulder. "Yes…" he answered cautiously, unsure where this question had come from.

"That makes you the bad guy, right?"

Gru raised an eyebrow. "I suppose yoo could say dat, yes."

There was a long silence as Margo glared angrily at the wall. "I see…"

Her guardian watched her in confusion, and it was a while before he spoke again. "Dis eez not what yoo were expecting, was eet?"

Margo glanced upward, thrown off by his accurate observation.

Mr. Gru sighed. "Margo… I know dis eez a lot to be taking in, and eet must be vhery confusing."

The girl continued to avoid his eyes stubbornly. Confused was an understatement. Her and her sisters had finally been adopted; they were supposed to get everything they've always hopped for… but instead of the happy family she had dreamed of, they got stuck with him. Everything was ruined, and it was all his fault.

"I know yoo don't trust me, Margo."

The young girl bit her lip, surprised he had come to the correct conclusion so fast, perhaps even faster than she did.

"And dats okay." He gently lifted her chin up so she was looking him in the eyes. "Dis isn't what yoo were expecting, and when I furst met yoo gurls, eet wasn't what I expecting eit'er." Gru chuckled lightly. "But I love yoo and your seetors vhery much. So, joost please… try and geeve me a chance? Can yoo do dat?"

Margo felt her throat tighten. His words sounded so genuine, it was hard not to believe him. However, one glance at his house filled her mind with doubt again. How could the same guy who lived in this house, who prided himself in being a villain, be the gentle father-like figure who took them for ice cream? It didn't seem to make sense. How could he be both? How could such a bad guy, tell her he loved her so unabashedly?

She felt herself nod. "Okay," she managed to agree. She would give him one chance; not for his sake, but for her sisters'.

"T'ank you." He gave her a relieved smile and stood up. "Now, I want yoo teh take eet easy and rest. Eit'er een your room or on de couch."

Margo opted for the couch. She didn't want to be in a room alone, and she preferred to be downstairs where she could watch her sisters and keep them out of any danger. Gru brought her more pillows and blankets then were necessary, and did all this with a large axe slung over his shoulder. Edith suddenly had renewed fascination with the object, and so Gru had refused to put it down, mumbling something about putting it in the lab later.

"Okay gurls," Mr. Gru called once he got Margo situated. "I'm going teh be down een dee lab vor a leetle bit. Don't deesturbed your seestor; I want 'er teh rest."

"Okay, Daddy!" Agnes agreed cheerfully.

Edith didn't say anything. She was still sulking about his decision to take the axe with him, and most likely, put it somewhere she couldn't get to it.

Although Margo was supposed to be resting, she couldn't will herself to close her eyes and relax. Her mind was racing as she thought of everything she had learned since she woke up. The room didn't help much either. Margo found herself continuously looking around, every time she thought she had seen everything, something even more disturbing would catch her eye.

Her sisters had gone off to play in another room, but she could hear them moving around so she knew they were okay.

It did feel good to lie down though. Her body was still sore, and the pillows were really comfortable. If it had been her sisters that were injured she would have made them rest as well. So, Mr. Gru did something right as a guardian, at least.

As Margo was lying on the couch trying to sort out everything out in her head, she felt the pressure of something hopping onto the cushion by her feet. From the size of it, she thought at first it was Agnes, but when it didn't say anything, she raised her head to get a better look.

Her mouth fell open as she watched a fuzzy… something, curl up next to her. She didn't move, afraid to disturb the creature. It wasn't a dog, or any other creature she had seen before. It had large jagged teeth set in a low under bite. Its hairy body was half the size of its head, and its legs looked too tiny to support the rest of it. Its ears, although they more resembled furry antennae, twitched at her movement.

The ferocious dust-bunny-with-teeth opened its beady eyes and gave her a lazy look. Margo nervously scooted away from it, but as the creature felt the loss of body heat it let an irritated 'huff' and followed Margo's retreating form. The creature then crawled up on Margo's legs, and after turning around twice like a dog, it curled into a ball and closed his eyes. Margo stared at the animal for a few seconds, unsure of what she should do. Despite how mean it looked, the creature didn't seem to have any intention of hurting her.

Slowly, she reached out and lightly stroked the top of the animals head. Its eyes cracked open at the attention, but then closed again in content. The girl continued to pet it as if it was a dog, and she grinned as its tongue lulled out of its mouth happily.

* * *

Gru entered his lab and was greeted by the sight of his minions rushing in different directions. Since the lab had been destroyed, everyone had been tasked with different jobs in order to get the place up and running quickly. Thanks to the accident, everyone would be working overtime for the next few weeks.

To Gru's surprise, when a group of minions saw him they didn't just wave and carry on with their work like normal. Instead, Gru was rushed by numerous yellow bodies, all of them loudly asking the same question.

"Yes, yes, calm down!" he shouted over the worried babbling of his workers. "Calm down please!"

The crowed fell into a hush, all except one minion.

"Boko dat pocu?"

"Weell, eef you would leesten up I would tell yoo."

The minions stared up at him with an apprehensive expression.

"Margo, eez fine. She eez upstairs resting now." He informed them seriously, still finding consolation in his own words.

There was a collective sigh of relief from the minions, and then more excited babble.

"Guys, guys, we 'ave a lab teh feex! Leet's geet moving, huh?"

The minions took off to complete their respective jobs, and Gru watched them leave with a hidden smile. The minions had really grown attached to the girls, probably faster than he did in the beginning.

"Stewart, wait! Take dis and put eet weeth dee ot'ers." Gru handed him the axe, which the minion struggled to hold properly.

Gru continued on to find Dr. Nefario in what used to be the inventing room. Because of the explosion, parts of the wall had been destroyed and many of the doctor's prototype weapons had been damaged beyond repair.

"How are the repairs going, Doctor Nefario?" Gru asked; his voice sounded more tired than he expected.

The doctor turned in surprise. "Gru? I didn't think you would be back so soon… how's the girl?" he asked, knowing that Margo was on the forefront of Gru's mind.

Gru sighed. "She's fine. She eez upstairs ryght now, resting."

The older man nodded. "I figured as much. You wouldn't have left the hospital without her," he noted with little emotion. He turned back to the paper work he was going over. "By my calculations, we should have the lab back to its original state in twenty-two days. We can get all the major components rebuilt within three, if we work fast."

Dr. Nefario noticed Gru staring blankly at the wall, his fingers playing idly with some rubble on the table.

"Or…" Dr. Nefario continued pointedly, "Whenever it's convenient for you. It's not like we don't have a job to do or anything."

The doctor's tone pulled Gru out of his thoughts. "Huh? Oh, sorry Nefario, I was joost…"

"Gru, what's going on? Is everything all right?"

Gru's clenched his hands tightly, closing his eyes. "Eet's Margo…" He opened them again, still staring angrily at the wall. "She eez suffereeng from amneesia ryght now, and she doesn't reemember dee last four months."

"Oh…" was all the doctor could say at first. He walked towards the taller man and put a hand on his shoulder in comfort. "I'm sorry to hear that lad, but you know, it is very likely she will regain her memories with time…"

He sighed. "I know, eets joost…" Gru clenched his fist even tighter, but even as he knuckles turned deathly white, he couldn't feel the pain he was causing to his fingers. He turned to the doctor in startling frustration. "She can't reemember _anyt'ing_! She can't reemember going teh school, or our 'ouse, or de minions! She steell t'ought she leeved een de orphanage! She can't reemember anyt'ing dat 'appened! Not even de _important_ t'ings!"

"Don't you mean…" Nefario began with an understanding look. "She can't remember you?

Gru's gaze dropped to the floor. "Dee way she _looked _at me…" he mumbled dejectedly. "Eet was like dee first tyme... she gave me dat _same_ deestrustful look." He sighed and rubbed his forehead helplessly.

"Gru, that's preposterous! This is completely different from the first time they came to live here," he assured his friend with a confused frown.

"I know, but to 'er eets eez dee furst tyme, and eets joost 'ard… I'm not 'Dad' to 'er, all she sees eez a vyllain." When someone finds out about his job, Gru loves the reaction he evicts from them. The fear in their eyes is a good ego boost, and it is nice to be reminded of the effect he has on people. But to see that look in Margo's eyes… a wave of self loathing rushed through him, and he clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached. It felt _wrong_. How could she not know how much he cared about her? He didn't blame her in the slightest, but it still hurt to be so quickly forgotten. And Margo's immediate distrust just reminded him of all the reasons she had to doubt him. He had let her and her sister's down in the past, and it was his fault she was hurt now.

"You told her about your job? Why on earth would you do that? Of course she's not going to trust you," the doctor reasoned with a frown.

"What was I teh say? I'm not going to lie to 'er Nefario." Gru refused firmly.

Nefario shook his head at Gru's stubbornness. "I suppose that's for the best… after all, she's intelligent girl. She would have figured out the truth on her own," the doctor mused.

Gru began picking up the broken beakers on the table and threw them away numbly. He was barley aware of what he was doing; it was as if he were on autopilot. "Dis eez all my fault…" he muttered to himself.

The doctor looked up in surprise. "Now, you know that's not true, lad. No one could have predicted this would happen. It was just an accident, a badly timed one. It was no one's fault," Nefario reprimanded him sharply.

Gru shook his head in disagreement as he continued to clean the glass from the table. His finger's trembled slightly in their task. "No, no, I should 'ave protected 'er better."

"You saved her life!" Nefario countered in frustration. "What more could you have done?" he asked, and then his expression melted into one of concern. "Here, let me have a look at those burns on your back, they still need to be treated properly."

"Eets fine," Gru shook him off coolly.

Doctor Nefario gave him an aggravated look, but backed off, knowing he had to give his friend some space.

Nefario adjusted his goggles before addressing him, looking slightly uncomfortable about what he was going to say next. "Gru, I'm not really good with kids, so I don't really know much about this, but even someone like me can tell you're a good father to those girls."

Gru looked over at the doctor in surprise at first, and then eye's then narrowed suspiciously, searching for deception. Nefario rarely talked about his parenting, he liked to concentrate on work and he often never mentioned the girls. However, his words had been sincere.

"Margo just doesn't remember that," the doctor continued. "It will not be long before she gets her memories back, but in the meantime… just try not to worry, you will figure it out."

"'Ow do yoo know? I 'ave no idea 'ow to help 'er Nefario!" Gru shot back helplessly.

Nefario chuckled lightly "You didn't have the slightest clue how to raise kids either, and that didn't stop you. Give yourself a little more credit. For the man who is the world's greatest villain, you're certainly insecure about being a father." Nefario patted him absentmindedly on his arm. "Now, let's get to work. The lab's not going to fix itself… the repair bots got damaged in the explosion."

* * *

Margo had spent the last twenty minutes comfortably relaxing on the couch, still stroking the strange furry creature. She had always wanted a dog, and she supposed this creature wasn't much different from one. The ten-year-old could still hear her little sisters in the next room so she didn't feel the need to check on them.

She had spent most of the time since Mr. Gru left staring into space. She was still trying to adjust to the idea that she and her sisters had been adopted, and as if that wasn't surprising enough, their new father turned out to be an evil villain.

There was a lot she needed to think about.

"Margo?" a tinny voice called.

The older girl looked down at her to see Agnes staring up at her inquisitively. Margo hadn't even notice her wander in the room.

"Hey, Agnes," she greeted with a reassuring smile.

Her sister smiled back and began to climb up on the couch next to her. Margo helped her up when she saw her struggling.

"Kyle!" Agnes squealed, cuddling the disgruntled creature. Kyle looked irritated at first to be woken up from his nap, but his tail was wagging slightly at the attention.

"Is that its name?" the older girl asked in surprise. Margo had been too unnerved by its large teeth to hold the creature the way Agnes was, but Kyle didn't even growl in protest at the girl's death grip. "What kind of animal is it?"

"It's a puppy!" Agnes told her gleefully, stroking Kyle.

Margo continued to stare at her sister and the creature. That most certainly was not a dog, but Margo figured Agnes wouldn't know any better.

The older girl watched Agnes play with the animal's fur for a bit, and it didn't take long for Edith to wander in the room.

"Edith, do you know what kind of animal… Kyle is?" Margo asked, stroking the creature's head.

"He's a dog, isn't he?" Edith asked in a bored voice.

Margo gave her a frustrated look. "He is not a dog."

"Well, whatever." Edith shrugged. "Kyle is Kyle, does it matter?"

Margo thought for a second before realizing that, no, it really didn't.

"Anyway, are you done resting yet?" Edith asked, playing with Kyle's 'ears'. "I'm bored."

"Yeah, Margo! Play with us!" Agnes chimed.

Margo nodded, smiling slightly. "Okay, what do you want to do?"

"Let's play tea party!" Agnes suggested excitedly.

Edith blew a raspberry at the idea. "Nah, that's boring without Dad."

Agnes pouted. "But I want to do something with Mr. Fluffy!"

"Is that a new toy, Agnes?" Margo asked kindly.

"Yeah, Dad won it for her."

Agnes gasped, suddenly getting an idea. "I want you to meet him!"

Agnes ran off, presumably to find her toy.

"So, you still don't remember anything?" Edith asked eagerly.

The brunette sighed and rolled her eyes. "No Edith, the last thing I remember is the orphanage. My memories aren't going to come back that quickly." _Although, _Margo thought to herself, _I wish they would hurry up._

"Edith," Margo began again. "Before I lost my memory, did I like it here with Mr. Gru?" Margo watched her sister intently, awaiting her response.

"Of course you did," she answered, and Margo frowned, disappointed at the simplicity of her response.

"Did I like it better then at Miss. Hattie's?" The desperate girl prodded.

"Well, yeah, duh. That's why we were sad when Dad sent us back."

"He sent us back to where?" Margo asked, and then blinked in realization, "to the orphanage?"

Edith avoided her eyes and concentrated on Kyle, obviously wanting to drop the subject.

"So… he didn't want us?" Margo asked slowly, and to her it made sense. Why would a man like him want to adopt three girls?

However, the older girl wasn't expecting Edith's passionate response.

"No! Dad wants us!" Edith deafened firmly, her bright blue eyes glaring resolutely from below her beanie. "He said so."

Margo wanted to scoff and ask how Edith could trust someone who had already sent them back once. However, she held her tongue, not wanting to hurt Edith who was so sure she had found a father.

Margo was even more grateful she didn't say any of the biting comments that had sprung to her mind, because not a second later, Agnes walked back in the room.

The young girl's eyes looked a little wet, and her lower lip was trembling.

"Agnes, what's wrong?" Margo asked in concern, jumping off the couch.

"I can't find Mr. Fluffy anywhere!" she explained miserably. "I think he's lost!"

"Didn't you have him down in the lab the other day?" Edith questioned. "Did you leave him there?"

Suddenly, Agnes brightened up and rushed out of the room.

Margo watched her leave in confusion. "Where is she going?"

"Probably to the lab."

"What!" Margo yelled and ran after her younger sister. Gru specifically told them to stay out of the lab, and even though Margo didn't care if they obeyed him or not, she still didn't want her sister anywhere near where an explosion had gone off.

Edith was close behind her as they rounded the corner. Margo's jaw dropped as she watched a giant blue tube engulf her sister. Agnes waved at her from inside it, and all Margo could do was stare. Margo noticed the tube was open so Agnes still had a chance to get out.

"Agnes, get out of there!" Margo ordered in a strained voice.

Out of the corner of her eye Margo saw Edith walk forward.

"Edith!" she yelled after her, but the middle sister had already climbed in the tube after Agnes.

"Come on, Margo!" Edith called encouragingly.

"Both of you get out of there, it's dangerous." Margo couldn't believe what was seeing. If she hadn't heard how unsafe the lab was, she might have been tempted to follow them herself, if only to figure out where the tube would take them.

Edith cocked her head to the side. "But we want to show you the lab. If you see it, maybe it will help you remember."

Margo hesitated at Edith's logic. Her sister was right, if she was around familiar surroundings then something might trigger her memories and they could come back faster. Besides, she had no obligation to listen to what Gru said. He was a villain; he had no right making rules if his job was to break them.

Finally Margo nodded, her curiosity winning out. "Well… alright."

She cautiously entered the tube and looked around at the clear blue walls, waiting for something to happen. An empty feeling coiled in her stomach as the whole tube moved, taking them all the way down. Through the glass, Margo was given an impressive glimpse of the lab. There were too many rooms to count and the ceiling was so high she couldn't believe this was all under the house.

Along with the maze-like architecture Margo could also see little creatures running around. At first she thought they were a result of her hitting her head.

"Umm, what are those?" she asked, a little freaked out.

"They're the minions; they work for Dad," Edith explained, thoroughly enjoying being the expert.

"Are they friendly?" the disturbed girl asked worriedly.

"Of course they are! Dave's the best… but Kevin always tells me these really cool stories."

The lift stopped and the three girls stepped into the lab. It smelt like cleaning supplies, meaning the air and room was sterile. The cold room felt forbidden to Margo, and she wished she had never agreed to come down here. The villain's house seemed welcoming compared to the lab, but then again, so did a morgue.

One of the yellow creatures, this one had only one eye, stopped when he saw the girls. Margo froze as it looked at her, and then glanced at Agnes, making sure her little sister was behind her and as far as possible from the creature. She then glanced at Edith, but she was already approaching the minion.

"Boka de nah pacotu?" the yellow creature asked.

"Yeah," Edith answered. "We're looking for Agnes's unicorn toy."

"Mr. Fluffy's lost!" Agnes explained apprehensively.

"Ah, pinopo." The minion shook his head sadly, and Agnes pouted.

Margo glanced at the three involved in the conversation, confused by not just was the minion was saying, but how her sisters seemed to understand him.

"Oh, okay Danny." Edith glanced back and her two sisters. "Let's keep looking for it, come on!" She took off down one of the halls, waving for them to follow.

"Edith, wait!" Margo shouted, and grabbed Agnes's hand before taking off after her. Finally she caught up with the middle sister. "You can understand what that creature was saying?" she asked slightly out of breath.

Edith shrugged. "Yeah, most of the time," she said nonchalantly.

They continued to walk deeper into the lab, making too many turns for Margo to count.

"You know where we are going, right Edith?" Margo asked worriedly.

"Yep, I know exactly where we are!" Edith took them down another long hallway. A few minions waved as they passed.

Each room in the lab was different. Some rooms held rockets; others had shelves of labeled chemicals, and most disturbing of all were the rooms full of elaborate looking weapons. Edith and Agnes barely glanced at the equipment. Every once in a while Edith would run her hand along a weapon or something that looked suspiciously like a bomb, but for the most part Margo got the impression her sisters were used to an environment like this. She couldn't help but wonder if she had ever grown used to this place as well.

When they first entered the lab the signs of an explosion were everywhere, but Edith seemed to be taking them to the far corner of the lab where the explosion only seemed to have jostled a few shelves. There was still fallen object and glass everywhere, however, and Margo had to be careful not to trip over the scattered weapons.

"Hey!" Edith suddenly shouted. "I've never been this way before! Come on!" She ran ahead again, and Agnes let go of Margo's hand to follow her.

"What! I thought you said you knew where we were going?"

Edith just laughed and glanced over her shoulder at her sister's, eyes brimming with excitement.

Edith took them all the way down to the end of the hallway, which opened up into a large room. This room had the highest ceiling yet.

"What is this place?" Margo asked, but didn't expect an answer.

Half of the room had a large stage with strange gray colored tiles. In the middle of the room there was booth with different colored switches. Edith didn't waste any time. She crawled up on the booth and began flipping switches, and pushing buttons.

"Edith, you don't know what that does!" Margo warned; grabbing Agnes's hand before the little girl could go help her sister.

"I know! But I bet it's something awesome!"

With a wide grin Edith pushed a large green button, and a loud 'whirring' sound filled the room.

"What did you do?" Margo's shouted over the noise. Eventually the sound died down to a low 'humm' and then the tiles on the stage began to glow different colors.

The three sisters cautiously approached the stage and watched the floor glow from red, to purple, yellow, blue, and then finally it stayed at a constant green.

"What is this for?" Margo wondered out loud.

"Let's go check it out!"

"Edith!"

But it was too late. Edith had already climbed up on the stage. She was only on a green square for a second before she was lifted into the air. Edith gasped as she floated off the ground as if she was weightless.

"Edith? How are you-"

"Whoa… Margo, Edith is flying!" Agnes shouted, pointing at her blonde sister.

"What's happening?" Edith shouted, accidentally doing a summersault. Suddenly, her uncertain voice was filled with laughter, "you guys gotta try this!"

Agnes face broke out into a grin. "I want to fly too!" she shouted as she removed her hand from Margo's.

Agnes climbed up the stairs to the side of the stage. Just like her sister, when she reached a green tile she was lifted into the air. Agnes's screeched in delight.

"Weeeeeee!"

By this time, Edith had already reached the ceiling, and pushed off the roof towards the ground. Edith's momentum slowed long before she hit the floor, allowing her to do flips in the middle of the air.

"This is the coolest ever! Margo, you have to come up here!"

"Yeah, come up here!" Agnes chorused.

"You guys…" she breathed in amazement. She still couldn't believe what she was seeing, but as she watched them giggle as they pushed off the walls, she couldn't help but feel envious. She took a cautious step forward, and then another one.

Before she knew it, the stage was right in front of her, welcoming her to step up.

She felt herself grin in excitement as she hoisted herself over the edge and walked onto a green square. Almost immediately a gut-wrenching feeling of falling twisted in her stomach as she was lifted off the ground. Her limbs tingled at the weightlessness, and she almost forgot to breathe. She continued to float upwards, and Margo felt uneasy about getting too high off the ground. The brunette waved her hands as if she was swimming through the air, but that did little good in controlling her movement. Only when she hit the ceiling was she able to push off and go anywhere.

Edith zoomed around her, pushing off from wall to wall as fast as she could. Agnes, on the other hand, giggled as she did flips in the air. Edith ran into Agnes once, not paying attention to where she was going, but without gravity and little momentum the crash was in slow motion.

Margo grinned at her sisters' antics, and for the first time in a while, her chest felt unexplainably lighter. Margo laughed as an idea popped into her head.

"Hey, watch this!" She pushed herself off a wall and managed do three flips in a row.

"Whoa!" her sister's cried in awe, and then proceeded to do the same thing.

Margo laughed as she used the other wall to shoot herself to the floor, and then from the floor she quickly propelled herself to the ceiling again. The three sisters laughed as they enjoyed their new playground. '_Edith was right,'_ Margo thought giddily, '_this is the coolest thing ever!'_

The shouts and loud laughing of the three girls could be heard throughout much of the lab, and it wasn't long before word got around about what the girls were doing. From minion to minion the excitement in the anti-gravity chamber spread until it reached the ears of a certain doctor and super villain.

A half an hour later the girls were immersed in an anti-gravity form of tag. Edith was 'it'.

"You're stuck now, Margo." Edith pointed out, referring to her older sister's position in the middle of the stage, away from any walls to push off from. Edith crouched into a corner, getting ready to push herself off and tag her sister.

"Eet looks like some leetle gurls found dee antee-gravitee room." An amused voice observed from the doorway.

Margo froze and looked over to see Mr. Gru and an elderly man watching them.

"Tag, Margo! You're-"

"Umph!"

"Ow… it." Edith finished rubbing her head. She gave her sister an annoyed look. "You didn't even try to move!" she accused.

"Hi Daddy!" Agnes greeted with a giggle, hanging upside down in the air.

Edith just seemed to notice their audience now. "Dad! This thing is so cool! How come you've never shown it to us before?"

"That's probably because the anti-gravity tiles are for making transport easier, not for playing with!" The grumpy older man explained as he approached the control booth Edith had been messing with earlier.

"But Uncle Nefario, it's really fun! You gotta try it!" Edith exclaimed as she pushed off a wall and did a flip in the air.

"I'll pass," Nefario grumbled. "Now come on down from there so I can shut this thing back off."

"Why should we?" Margo heard herself ask, not wanting to be torn away from the most amazing device she had ever seen. In the back of her mind, she was also testing the waters, curious to see how the men would react to her defiance.

"Because it's not for playing with!" the doctor argued.

Gru tried to hide a chuckle at his friend's frustration.

"Although," Gru broke in. "I'm not seeing any 'arm een dem using eet."

The doctor gave Gru an annoyed look, and the villain just shrugged.

"What? We 'aven't 'ad a use vor eet een years," Gru reminded him.

Nefario opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it again, realizing he didn't have a convincing argument against Gru.

"Yay!" Edith cheered. "So we're not in trouble?" she asked hopefully.

Gru placed a hand on his hip and raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't say dat. I told yoo gurls I deedn't want yoo een dee lab until eet was feexed. Eet's dangerous."

"More dangerous than your house?" Margo countered pointedly.

Gru blinked at the hostility in her voice. "Yes Margo, much more dangerous."

"Then maybe someone with such a dangerous house shouldn't let kids wander around." Margo could feel her previous anger rising in her chest, and with her position floating above the two men, she felt a surge of power run through her.

All her disappointment and anger towards their caretaker came rushing back. She never really cared about what her adoptive parent would look like, or the kind of house they would live in. She hoped the house would be big enough for her sisters to play in, and their mom would be confident and beautiful. Edith would often say how she wished her Dad's eye would sparkle… especially when he laughed. However, through all the speculating and praying, they truly did not care what their parents looked like, or how big the house would be. At the end of the day, when they entered their empty bedroom at the orphanage and crawled under their thin covers, all they wanted… was to be wanted.

And now they were adopted, and everything was supposed to be okay. But it wasn't. Their house was cold and forbidden. They didn't even have a mom, beautiful, smart, strong, or otherwise. And she couldn't imagine their intimidating caretaker's eyes sparkling. Perhaps when he ran over someone else's car… but certainly not when he looked at them.

Margo used to think she really didn't care who adopted them, as long as they wanted all three of them. But now, she couldn't help but think: _Anyone but him._

"Maybe," she continued venomously, "there shouldn't be kids in this house at all!"

Mr. Gru had asked her to give him a chance, but she just couldn't. This lab, his job, it was all too much. And it wasn't fair! She never had anything normal kids had, and today she woke up to find she was never going to. She felt like crying, kicking, and screaming all at once. But instead, she did what she always did: she took it out on the person responsible.

"Margo?" Gru's voice was softer than she expected, it almost sounded hurt.

However, the resentment building in Margo's chest didn't allow her to care.

"What are you talking about?" Edith asked her. They had both floated to the ceiling, and Edith was giving her confused and slightly worried look.

"Yeah Margo, aren't you having fun?" Agnes asked from below them.

The question made Margo's anger receded a bit. She had been having fun, probably the most fun she had ever had in her life. And back at the ice cream shop she had been genuinely happy, but that was before she saw their house and realized who this man really was. Now, everything she had seen and felt were jumbled in her brain. Every good thing Gru had done that day had been met with a bad.

"I…" She was so confused. "I was, but…" And she was frustrated; with the situation, with the careless man who seemed to care, and with herself for not being able to remember if he really did. "But… I don't know." Last of all, she was scared. And what scared her that most was not knowing. She didn't know what she should do, or if there was anything she could do.

She felt her stomach drop as she let out a strangled gasp. She was falling, straight out the air and heading towards the ground. The once green tile beneath her now shone red. However, as quickly as the weightlessness left, it was back again. Margo could hear her heart thumping loudly in her ears and she looked around to confirm that she was once again floating. She glanced wide-eyed at the green tile beneath her, remembering briefly how it had flickered to red.

"What was that?" Edith shrieked; having only fell a few feet like Margo had.

"Gurls! Are yoo okay?" Mr. Gru shouted up at them, his voice shaking slightly.

"Y-yes," Margo managed to answer. She swallowed to help clear a lump in her dry throat.

"Daddy?" Agnes asked, her voice more curious then fearful. She was closest to the ground, and had been just eight feet away from having a very painful landing. Margo and Edith were up much higher, and even with their sudden drop, were still only five feet away from the ceiling.

"Nefario, what 'appened?" Gru demanded not taking his eyes off the girls.

"I'm not sure, I didn't touch anything…" He looked over the control panel and then back to the green tiles. "There was no reason for it to glitch, unless…" He snapped his fingers. "The explosion! The tiles must have shifted, and now the connection isn't stable."

"Can you feex eet?"

"Easily, but not without readjusting the tiles manually, but I can't do that while the girls are up there. And Gru?" his voice turned grave. "It's likely the tiles will give out again soon… and this time, for good."

Gru didn't need to hear anymore. He ran up to the ledge of the stage, his eyes still glued to his daughters.

"Okay gurls, I need yoo teh geet back on de stage."

"I'll adjust the power so they have a little more weight," Nefario's informed him.

Margo didn't understand what Nefario meant until she felt herself slowly lower towards the floor. She tried to help this process out the best she could by trying to push herself through the air, but with little result.

Margo understood what was going on, and she was pretty sure Edith did too. The device that was causing her to float wasn't working properly, and if the tiles beneath her turned red again, then she and her sisters would fall.

"Margo?" She could hear the wavering uncertainty in Edith's voice.

"It'll be okay," she assured her sister, giving her the most confident smile she could muster.

Edith hesitantly returned the gesture.

"I gawt yoo." Gru said in relief as he plucked Agnes out of the air and set her on the ground where she would be safe. Agnes had thankfully floated low enough for Gru to reach her, but Margo and Edith still had a ways to travel.

Margo's whole body was tense. It was like they were racing against time, and they couldn't move fast enough. There was nothing she and Edith could do but wait.

And then, it happened again. Margo felt the weight return before she even saw the tiles turn red.

She drop fast, and she could hear Edith's scream meet her own.

"Gurls!" yelled a terrified voice from beneath them, and Margo shut her eyes.

"Umph!"

Margo landed heavily on something surprisingly soft and warm. Whatever it was, it held her tightly, and with her mind a blur and her body shaking uncontrollably, she could do nothing else but cling to her savior.

"Eets okay, I gawt yoo two. You're okay."

These words had a calming effect, and her mind begun to clear. Margo didn't need to look up to know who had caught them. He must have sprinted on stage the second they fell in order to get to them on time.

Instead of pulling away from him like she had in the past, she continued to stay in his comforting embrace. He smelt like warm laundry soap with a lingering sterile smell, probably from working in a lab. It was a strange combination, but a familiar one.

Familiar. Finally, something was familiar. Although no memories had returned, at least it was _something._

Margo felt movement to the right of her, and as she looked up she could see Edith in Gru's other arm, looking around. Her little sister had recovered must faster then she had.

What Edith had to say made Margo groan.

"That was so cool! Let's do it again!"

Gru chucked and held Edith tighter, kissing the top of her head affectingly. The loving action made Edith's grin grow wider.

Gru set both of them down, and Margo was surprised at how close the ground was from his arms. That was when she realized Gru was on his knees, most likely brought down by the weight of catching two children.

"Nice catch, lad." Nefario praised with a relieved smile. He then proceeded to turn off the machine, making the red tiles turn back to their original dull gray color.

"Daddy!" Agnes called as she ran up the steps of the stage and jumped into his lap.

"Dere yoo are!"

Agnes giggled at his playful tone, and squealed happily when he scooped her up into a hug.

Margo timidly watched the interaction between Mr. Gru and her sisters. Agnes was beaming up at him from her place in his arms, giggling happily. And Gru was grinning freely down at her, his eyes sparkling with adoration. Edith playfully griped the sleeve of his sweater, causing Gru's gaze to fall on her. Affectionately, he reached up to adjust her beanie so it was uncovering her eyes. Margo saw Gru look Edith over quickly, as if confirming to himself that she was all right. His warm gaze fell on Margo next, and she felt herself tense. He seemed to check her over like he did Edith, and immediately she saw the relief in his eyes. With the way he was looking at her, Margo was worried he would scoop her into a hug like he had Agnes, and she felt a stab of disappointed when he didn't.

"Are yoo gurls okay?" he asked, looking at Margo intently.

She nodded numbly. "Y-yeah… thanks for catching us." Margo felt like she should say something more. An apology felt just as appropriate as a thank you. She had been unbelievably angry with him, so frustrated and confused, but now, watching him with her sisters, she couldn't summon the same spite that she had felt moments ago.

"I wasn't 'bout teh let yoo get 'urt. I would do anyt'ing teh protect yoo gurls." There was something undeniably true about his words. His voice rang with certainty, and what startle Margo most, was that she truly believed him.

"That's 'cause you're the best Dad ever!" Agnes cooed.

Gru grinned down at her "And yoo are dee best keeds ever!" he mimicked, making her giggle.

Margo wondered if there was more truth in Agnes's declaration then she would have originally thought.

* * *

Mr. Gru, Margo and her sisters were brought back into the house by the blue chute. She was surprised they hadn't been in trouble, despite Mr. Gru's earlier declaration that they were. However, everything seemed to have fallen apart with the near death experience. Mr. Gru just seemed happy to get them out of the lab so he could make dinner.

"What were yoo gurls doing een dee lab een dee furst place?" Mr. Gru asked while heading into the kitchen.

Edith stopped suddenly. "Oh yeah! We never found Agnes's toy!"

Margo wished Edith hadn't brought that up, because once Agnes heard this, her eyes widened and her lower lip began to quiver.

"Oh no! Mr. Fluffy!"

Gru raised an eyebrow. "Eh? What's dis?"

Margo moved to comfort her sister. "She left her toy in the lab," she explained, placing a soothing hand on Agnes's shoulder.

"Yoo mean dee one I put een your toy box? I found eet yesterday…"

Agnes's whole face brightened. "Really?"

Agnes then changed direction and ran upstairs as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Margo smiled fondly after her sister, and at the same time she could hear Mr. Gru chuckling lightly.

She turned back to her caretaker and watched him pull out ingredient from a shelf. Margo rubbed her left arm awkwardly, racking her brain for something to say.

"Umm, Mr. Gru? Do you need any help with dinner?" She surprised herself with the offer, for just moments ago she had been looking for any reason to argue with him, and now, she wanted to be useful. But then again, he did save her and her sisters. And even though he was a 'bad guy,' she couldn't keep pretending he didn't care about them.

He smiled down at her. "T'ank you Margo, but eets fine. Yoo should go play."

"Oh… okay," she tried to keep her voice nonchalant to hide her disappointment. When adults said 'go play,' they usually meant 'go away'.

"Unless…" he began carefully, making her halt before she exited the kitchen. "Yoo really want teh 'elp?"

She turned back towards him hesitantly. "Can I?"

She expected him to sigh and annoyance and either tell her 'yes' or 'no'. What she didn't expect was for a wide grin to on his face.

"Ov course!" He waved her over and grabbed a round chair for her to kneel on so she could reach the unusually high counters. She climbed up and got a good look at the ingredients.

"'Ow eez lazania soundeeng teh yoo?"

Margo smiled and looked up at the man. "It sounds great."

* * *

"Alryght gurls, tyme vor bed."

"Aww, now?" Edith complained.

"Yes, now. Eet's getteeng late."

After a very good dinner; and in fact, the first dinner Margo had ever helped cook, the four of them had spent the evening together.

Agnes had convinced everyone to play tea party with her and Margo hadn't expected Mr. Gru to give in and join them as easily as he did. With Mr. Gru playing, Edith was more than willing to sit down and participate in the game, even though she usually preferred more physical activities.

The evening had gone by quickly, and Margo hadn't even noticed when the sun left the sky. It was surprising how comfortable the house felt now. Although the house looked the same – minus the ax – from when she first arrived earlier that day, Margo no longer felt like an imprisoned guest.

Out of all the rooms in the house, their bedroom looked least like it belonged in the house. The room had been taken over by pink girly items from toys to dress up clothes. However, Margo froze when Agnes climbed into her 'bed'.

"Are those… bombs?" she wondered out loud, moving a little closer to get a better look.

Gru waved off her question as he forcibly had to pick up a laughing Edith in order to get her in bed. "Dere deactivateed. Perfectly safe."

Margo glanced at him uncertainly and then back to the bed. She almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. She was adopted by a villain, slept in a bomb, and had tea parties in the evening. It was like a twisted fairytale.

Margo slowly got into bed. She found herself believing Mr. Gru promise that it was safe. She had been more open about believing him ever since the falling incident in the lab. However, her new willingness to trust had nothing to do with Gru catching them.

"What story eez eet tonight, gurls?" Mr. Gru asked, heading to the bookshelf.

"Read your book Daddy!"

"Yeah, One Big Unicorn!"

Margo looked at the blonde in confusion; Edith wanting to hear a book about a Unicorn? The ten-year-old thought she would never see the day.

Gru chuckled and pulled a light, homemade book from the shelf. "One Beeg Unicorn eet eez den."

Mr. Gru settled on the pillows between the three beds, this way they could look over his shoulders at the pictures.

""Ere we go…" he began, opening the book to the first page. "One beeg unicorn, strong and free, t'ought he was 'appy az could be…"

Margo noticed the unicorn in the book had a scarf just like Gru had been wearing earlier that day. She realized this was more than just a normal kid's picture book.

"Den t'ree leettle keettins came around, and turned 'is 'ole life upside down."

With a grin, Margo saw that the little pink and green kittens looked like her sisters. And the blue one…

"Dey made 'em laugh." Gru reached behind him to tickle Agnes, making her squeal and giggle. "Dey made 'em cry." His voice became soft, almost regretful. "He nevair should 'ave said goodbye…"

Margo frowned and looked up at him. Edith did say something about Gru sending them back. It was strange how this book seemed to pull everything together.

"And now he knows he can nevair part… from dose t'ree leettle keettins dat changed his heart." He finished with a smile. Looking over to his left he saw Edith snuggling deeper into her covers, a sleepy expression on her face.

Margo did the same, taking off her glasses before her head hit the pillow. Surprisingly, the make-shift bed was very comfortable, and as Mr. Gru turned off the lights she found her mind drifting back to the contents of the book.

"Good nyght, gurls," Mr. Gru said softly as he leaned over and kissed Edith lightly on her head.

He pulled up Agnes's covers and tucked her in snugly. He kissed the top her head as well, making her smile.

He turned to Margo, and she felt like she should say something.

"Good night, Mr. Gru."

"Good nyght, Margo," he said softly, and to her surprise, he leaned over and kissed her head, just like he had done for her sisters. Margo felt pleasantly warm inside at the display of affection towards her.

"I love you gurls. See yoo een de morning."

At his words, strange butterflies appeared in Margo's stomach and she couldn't help but wonder; _Is this really what being loved feels like? _ It had been so long since she had parents, or anyone to love her she couldn't remember.

Margo laid in the dark for a long while, thinking over everything that had happened to her, and desperately trying to remember what she had forgotten. That book he had made, they way he interacted with her sisters, the goodnight kisses…. those where everything she hoped her adoptive parents would do, and more. It's true, he was nothing like the parents her and her sisters dreamed of, but like Edith had said about an earlier subject, _did it matter?_

From the moment Margo had seen his house and learned about his job, all she kept repeating to herself was: anyone but him. But now, she couldn't help but think, why not him?

Her thinking had begun to change not when he caught her, but after. Although she was grateful to be alive, it took more than one act to convince her of anything. It wasn't until after their near-death experience, did Margo start to notice things she hadn't before. At first, it was just a simple look. In his eyes Margo could see how absolutely relieved he was that they were safe. He looked at her and her sisters like they were precious and irreplaceable. And the way he interacted with Edith and Agnes, how his smile always matched their giggle… felt so natural.

Those moments were small, and easily overlooked. But it was little moments like those that slowly began to give her hope. It made her start to think, that perhaps he did care about them. At the orphanage, Margo had grown used to being overlooked. Adults would come in and out adopting children, but none of them wanted the three girls that refused to be adopted separately. It was almost impossible for Margo to accept that, after all those years, she woke up one morning with a new father and a new life in front of her. No, she may be young but she had been alive long enough to know life didn't work that way.

But maybe, this one time, life did work like that. Because Mr. Gru had been the only one to adopt them, the only one to give them good night kisses, and the only one to tell them he loved them. Despite his job and strange house, despite the fact he didn't look anything like what she pictured, he did what no one else had done in years: he wanted them. And slowly, _anyone but him_, turned into, _why not him_, and finally became_, please be him_. Because more than anything, Margo wanted this to work; she wanted a home and a family, but not just any home and family. She wanted a strange house with an underground lab, and weird yellow creatures running around. She wanted a bald father with a heavy accent, violent tendencies, and a loving smile when he kissed them good night. She wanted to stay with Mr. Gru, and she prayed he wanted that too.

Suddenly, Margo put on her glasses and jumped out of the bed. She managed to make it out of the room quietly without waking her sisters. There had been one question that had been bugging her since the beginning, and she finally felt brave enough to ask.

She finally found Mr. Gru in the kitchen. He was looking over some blueprints, but his eyes didn't seem to be focused on them.

Nervously, Margo bit her lip before speaking. "Mr. Gru," she called quietly, in the still room her voice was easily heard.

Mr. Gru looked up suddenly, startled by her arrival. "Margo? What are yoo doeeng up?" And then his expression became worried. "Eez somet'ing wrong?"

The brunette shook her head. "No… I just have," she hesitated; know this sounded stupid, "a question."

Mr. Gru's expression softened and he waved her over. She climbed up in the booth across from him. Margo concentrated on her hands, finding it difficult to look up at him. She had no idea how she was going to ask the question she needed to.

"What eez eet, Margo?"

The girl didn't speak at first, trying to collect her racing thoughts the best she could. At last, she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She was worried the question would sound silly, something he could just wave off. But she wanted Mr. Gru to give her a real answer. She didn't want to hear how adult usually talked to children, with misdirection and a lot of padding around the truth. Instead, she needed to hear a serious response to be satisfied, no matter what his answer was.

Finally, she took a deep breath and tried to ask again, only to have her eyes fall on the blueprint. "What are you working on?" It was a much easier question then the one she wanted to ask.

Gru chuckled lightly and move the paper so she could see it better. "Eets a new plan I've been workeeng on. De government 'as created a weather controlleeng macheene. Eet would be very useful eef we 'ad eet eenstead." Mr. Gru explained with a mischievous smile.

Margo shifted uncomfortably. She realized he was talking about his job, and the thought of what he did still made her nervous.

"But don't tell aneeone. I 'aven't even told de minions yet," he said with a wink.

Despite the villainous plot on the table in front of her, Margo could help but crack a smile. Whether she supported the plan or not, it was kind of cool he was letting her in instead of keeping it from her.

"But I'm guessing dis was not de question yoo were t'inking of," he stated, rolling up the blueprints.

She shook her head, knowing she couldn't put off the question any longer. "No, I was just wondering… why?"

"Why?" he echoed.

She nodded self-consciously. "Yeah, why… did you adopt us?"

"Oh." Gru sighed. "Dat's your question?"

Margo stated silent, once or twice risking a glance up at him before looking back down at the table. This was the question that had plagued her from the very beginning, and it only grew as she learned more and more about her caretaker. Why would a villain want to adopt three girls? His house obviously wasn't set up for kids, and his job wasn't exactly family friendly.

"Margo…" his voice was soft and hesitant. "Yoo gurls 'aven't asked me dat yet, but I guess I should 'ave seen eet coming." He sighed, and to Margo's surprise, stood up and walked over to her side of the table. He kneeled in front of her so he could talk to her better.

It was Mr. Gru's turn to look insecure before speaking. He seemed worried to how she would react to his answer and that only made her more anxious.

"Don't hate me, okay?" he pleaded, and Margo's throat closed up at the desperate tone in his voice.

She shook her head. She couldn't imagine hating him. Even though the thought had crossed her mind once or twice that day, she knew it had just been her frustration seeping through. She had never really hated him.

"Eets true dat I nevair wanted keeds," he admitted, and hurriedly glanced up at her, looking worriedly for her reaction.

Margo kept a straight face and waited for him to continue.

"And when I adopted yoo gurls eet was vor my own selfish reasons. I deedn't expect…" he was searching for the right thing to say, "t'ings to work out like they deed."

Margo's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Mr. Gru rubbed his eyes, and Margo realized she had asked the one thing he was trying to keep vague.

"I deedn't expect yoo gurls teh be living 'ere permanently." Margo flinched, knowing this meant he never intended to keep them, something she had been dreading. "I also deedn't expect to geet t'ree beautiful daughters instead ov what I originally t'ought I wanted…. I fell een love wit' yoo gurls, and I had been foolish teh t'ink I could use yoo gurls like I did." His voice was painfully regretful. "I'm sorry vor letteeng yoo down." He lightly touched the tender spot in Margo's head where she had been hit in the explosion. "Both tymes. But you're weeth me now, and I am nevair letteeng yoo go."

After hearing those words, those frustratingly _familiar _words, Margo threw her arms around his neck, keeping her eyes closed tight, but despite her efforts, she couldn't keep the tears from rolling down her face.

"Thank you," she whispered her voice thick with emotion.

She felt Mr. Gru tense at first, and then slowly he wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh Margo," he breathed softly.

Eventually, they broke apart and Gru gave her a playful look. "Now, I t'ink eets tyme vor yoo to geet back to bed, don't yoo?"

Margo smiled and nodded. "Yeah, okay."

"Good nyght, Margo."

Margo bit her lip, and tried to gather her courage. Her sisters said it so effortlessly, so it couldn't be too hard. And she wanted to try it. She wanted to see how it sounded coming out of her mouth. "Good night, Da- Mr. Gru." She cut herself off at the last second, not being able to go through with it.

Margo quickly turned and left the room as fast as she could, not wanting to see his surprised expression.

Calling him 'Dad' was such a simple thing, but for some reason, it felt so complex. Margo realized this was something she couldn't rush, just like getting her memories back. They would both come to her in time, she just had to be patient and wait. In the meantime, she thought as she crawled back into her bomb bed, she had a home and a family.

And she hoped, this time, it was for good. Something inside of her, whether it was a deeply buried memory, or a newly discovered truth, told her it was. Somehow, she knew she was home.

**Yes, this is the end of this chapter. Some of you might have wanted to watch Margo slowly reclaim her memories (and so do I), but I never intended to show you. Mostly because this is only a one shot, and the first day was the most important anyway. If you want and epilogue, here is what happens: Throughout the next two weeks Margo slowly began to remember things from her recent past. It started out with small things, like the specific memory of Gru cooking pancakes in the morning, and over time more and more pieces began to fit together as her memories returned. After two weeks she could remember everything, and she secretly felt embarrassed for forgetting so much. Eh, not much of an epilogue… if anyone wasn't to continue where this story leaves off, please feel free. I think it would be interesting to see how, and in what order her memories return. **

**Alright, so I really hope you liked this one. It wasn't that hard to write(not like chapter 4), but since it was so long it became rather difficult and complex. Now, I know Margo acts a little different than in the movie when she first arrived at Gru's house, but that was on purpose. Although she does have some of the same lines, as you probably noticed, she didn't act exactly the same. She was a little more cautious in my fic, and that was done because: 1) She actually knows he is a villain, unlike last time where she was more curious and trying to figure everything out. 2) She knows there is danger, because she just came back from the hospital because of this place. 3) Her sisters are very accepting of the new house, causing her to be more on guard, and protect them from a danger they can't seem to see. **

**Margo also is more accepting of Gru in the end of day one in this chapter then at the end of day one in the movie, mostly because Gru loves them. Margo doesn't fully trust him, far from that actually, but because she can tell Gru cares for them, this makes her more willing to give him a chance. **

**Sorry, I don't normally explain the character's actions so fully, but because it is so easy to compare this Margo to movie Margo in the beginning, I wanted you to know that everything is intentional and (hopefully) not out of character.**

**The next chapter is about a grown up Edith. She is so fun to write for as a grown up you guys! I had no idea! It might take a while to come out though, but I'll definitely enjoy writing it! **

**Alright, so before you all go off and enjoy the rest of the party, (I know there are some awesome fanart and fanfics coming out today in celebration of Gru's B-day) please don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you thought. Thanks! I hope you enjoyed it!**


	6. A Christmas Fairytale

**Umm… surprise? **

**No, I have no self control at all. I wasn't even thinking of doing a Christmas chapter, but then this just popped into my head randomly and I knew I would have to do it this year, or it would never get done. This is a little different then my other stories because you get to see the girls in the orphanage. Also, in this chapter I play with the idea that the girls aren't actually related to each other, I think that adds an interesting element to their characters and relationship.**

**I know I promised you all a grown up Edith story, but that's coming up next! Very very soon if they plot will behave and stop becoming more and more complex. Also, please excuse the grammatical errors, I'll get this beta-ed properly soon. I just really wanted to get it up on Christmas.**

**Disclaimer: Despicable me belongs to illumination entertainment and universal.**

Chapter 6 A Christmas Fairytale

"It's almost Christmas! It's almost Christmas! It's almost Christmas!" Agnes sung excitedly as she bounced and twirled on her bed. Her usual ponytail was gone and her long black hair flew wildly across her face.

Margo smiled warmly at her little sister's excitement."Okay, Agnes, come here. I need to finish your hair."

Agnes giggled and jumped off her bed. She stumbled forward when she hit the ground, but managed to regain her balance on time. Unfazed, she grinned widely up at her sister. "Okay!"

Margo sat on the floor, propping herself up with the end up the bed. Agnes sat comfortably in her lap as Margo gently ran a comb through her hair.

"Be careful not to pull," Agnes requested softly, fidgeting slightly.

"I won't pull, but you have to hold still."

Agnes nodded, and the sudden head-movement caused Margo loose her grip on the hair she was attempting tie up with a red hair band. The brunette sighed and began all over again.

Their small room in the orphanage was oddly quiet, and the silence caused Margo to shift uneasily.

"Agnes, do you know where Edith has gotten to?"

"Yeah!" she giggled. "She said she was going to make Lauren eat her words."

Margo's hands froze for a half-second before she finished pulling her sister's hair in a ponytail.

_Edith, not again!_

Agnes tilted her head so her chestnut colored eyes were staring inquisitively at her sister. "How can someone eat their words?"

Tiredly, Margo got to her feet. "They can't, but that means we have to find Edith quickly."

She grabbed her younger sister's hand as she rushed out the door and down the dull hallways of the orphanage in search of their sister.

"Hey, Margo! Hey, Agnes!" A girl greeted them as they rounded the corner.

"Hey Penny." Margo and Agnes came to an anxious halt in front of the girl. "Have you seen Edith anywhere? Or Lauren maybe?" Margo asked slightly out of breath.

"Umm, I think Lauren is in her room, but-"

"Great, thanks!" Margo shouted over her shoulder as she and Agnes went racing in the direction of Lauren's room.

Unfortunately, they arrived too late.

Lauren was around Margo's age, but she was also a very large girl. She could flatten Edith easily, and the worst part was Edith didn't seem to care. Margo knew her sister would fearlessly pick a fight with Lauren despite her size, because once Edith got an idea in her head, there was no stopping her.

"Ow! That hurt! You made me bleed!" Lauren screamed through a mouth full of blood. "You're dead meat small-fry!"

Dark-haired Lauren had a hand cupped over her mouth, revenge clear in her green eyes.

Before Margo could blink, the large girl was charging at full speed towards her sister.

"Edith!" Letting go of Agnes's had, Margo sprung forward, desperate to get to her sister in time. However, Lauren was faster.

Edith stood rooted to the floor as she watched the girl approach, a helpless expression frozen on her face. Edith closed her eyes in pain and let out a strangled cry as Lauren slammed into her. She felt her back roughly slam into the wall behind her as the bully continued to pin her against the hard surface.

Edith struggled to get free, but Lauren was too heavy. It was as if she were battling against a bear.

"Get off of her!" Margo shouted as she desperately grabbed Lauren's shoulder and yanked with all her might. Margo wasn't strong enough to completely remove Lauren, but Edith quickly saw the opportunity and wiggled free. The younger girl stumbled and fell to the floor behind Margo's protective form.

Margo gave her sister a quick glanced before resolutely turning back to the bully.

"Well, if it isn't the rest of the Sisters," Lauren commented snidely, blood dripping from her mouth where Edith had hit her.

The other children of the orphanage looked into the room in fear, but also with a hint of morbid curiosity. They were all wondering the same thing; what would happen to the Sisters now?

The Sisters. That's how they were known in the orphanage because of their unique situation. The three girls weren't related. In fact, they had all shown up at the orphanage at different times. However, for some unexplained reason they had latched on to one another. It wasn't friendship exactly, because friends were almost always made with kids their own age. Instead, it ran so much deeper then the fleeting happiness of friendship, or shakable foundation of a roommate. Their bond didn't revolve around similar interests or complementing personalities. They found a kinship within each other, a sense of belonging. And without even realizing they had done it, they adopted each other.

And so, after seeing how the three girls interacted with each other, not like friends, but like family, the children at the orphanage begun to jokingly call them 'The Sisters'. It wasn't long before the girls accepted the idea of sisterhood amongst themselves.

"Leave Edith alone, Lauren," Margo demanded authoritatively, adjusting her glasses.

Lauren growled, raising herself up to her full height. "She started it! I was just getting back at her!"

Margo narrowed her eyes. "I don't care! You know what's going to happen if Miss. Hattie sees anyone fighting. And I swear, if you try to go after Edith again, I will tell Miss. Hattie about this."

Lauren's eyes widened. "But then we would all get in trouble, even you! You wouldn't do that."

It was true; Miss. Hattie didn't care who was in the right and who was wrong. In her eyes, if one girl deserved to be pushed, then they all did, even the ones not involved. And most likely both Edith and Lauren would get sent to the box of shame. However, Margo didn't care what the punishment would be, or if her or her sisters would have to bear it. Keeping Edith safe was her first priority.

"Try me," Margo dared unflinchingly.

Lauren looked like she was about to say something, but then she seemed to deflate under Margo's heated glare.

Finally, the larger girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I don't care." Lauren took a few steps back, trying to shake of her defeat nonchalantly.

"Come on," Margo hissed as grabbed Edith arm and pulled her out of Lauren's room and down the hallway. Agnes followed close behind. Once they were far enough away, Margo let go.

She turned to Edith whose gaze was suddenly fixated on the ground. "Are you okay?" Margo asked softly, tilting her sister's face upwards so she could see if there was any bruising. There wasn't, as Margo suspected only Edith's stomach had been hit.

Edith shook her off. "I'm fine," she murmured.

Margo realized that by the way Edith had been able to walk and by how she was standing, this must be true. Lauren hadn't truly hit her that hard, and Edith would probably receive only a few small bruises.

"Good," Margo said in relief, and then her eyes narrowed as her voice raised an angry octave. "Now, what were you thinking?" she shouted.

Edith scowled, and her head shot up as she fixed her sister with a glare. "She deserved what she got!"

"Edith, I don't care what she did first. You shouldn't have been fighting at all!"

"It's not what she did," Edith admitted, her voice a little softer this time. "It's what she said…"

Margo placed a hand on her hip. "Oh, and what did she say?"

Edith grew silent and pulled her beanie down, almost covering her eyes. "Nothing."

"No, come on, tell me," Margo prodded angrily. "If it's so important you had to fight because of it, then you should be able to tell me."

Edith glanced up at the Margo and then back to the floor. "It was…" she began hesitantly, "about you."

Margo froze.

Edith glanced up at her once again. "She called you four-eyes, and she wouldn't take it back." Edith clenched her fists angrily, a scowl on her lips.

Margo swallowed and tried to push back the choking feeling of hurt that came from hearing Lauren's comment. She had to deal with her sister first and foremost.

"Edith," Margo began reasonably. "You still shouldn't have picked that fight."

"But-" she protested, and Margo shook her head.

"No, I don't care what she calls me, and you shouldn't either. It's not worth fighting over."

Edith frowned and kicked the ground stubbornly.

Margo sighed. She doubted her words had gotten through to her sister, but she didn't know what else to say.

"Alright," Margo said in a more cheerful tone. "It's Christmas Eve and you're not even in your pajamas yet. Come on."

* * *

The tree sisters sat on Edith's bed together. Margo was leaning against a pillow, and Edith was resting comfortably against her right arm. Agnes was in Margo's lap, hugging her unicorn toy to herself and singing softly.

Edith yawned. "It's Christmas tomorrow," she observed, and Margo noticed there was less enthusiasm in her voice then there was last year.

Margo couldn't blame her for not being as excited as Agnes, however. Christmas last year had been a huge disappointment to her two sisters. When they awoke in the orphanage last year there had been no decorations, no Christmas tree, and no presents. The only presents they received were the homemade ones they made for each other, and Margo knew it was going to be the same this year. In fact, Christmas at the orphanage was disappointingly no different than any other day of the year. Agnes seemed to be made of rubber and had easily bounced back from last Christmas. However, as tough as she was, Edith wasn't as resilient as Agnes.

"Do you think Santa is going to come this year?" Agnes asked, turning to look at her sisters with innocent excitement.

Edith scoffed. "You know Santa doesn't visit orphanages. He only gives presents to good children with parents'."

Agnes's eyes turned downcast, and Margo was worried she was about to cry, but then Agnes spoke again pleadingly. "Margo? When we have parents… do you think we will get presents from Santa?"

Margo sucked in a breath sharply. Swallowing, she tightly wrapped her arms around Agnes in a secure hug. "Y-yes, when we have parents we will get presents." She assured her. "Then it will finally be Christmas for us."

Edith pulled on Margo's pajama sleeve. "Tell us again," the little girl begged.

Agnes nodded. "Please, Margo. Tell us about our Mommy and Daddy that will adopt us."

Margo bit her lip. She had told her sisters this story again and again, changing the details slightly, but the basic story always stayed the same. Her sisters could never get enough of it.

"Alright." She nodded, playing absentmindedly with her sisters pony tail. She stared at the back of Agnes's head for a few seconds as she thought of a way to begin this tale. As soon as her sisters began to get restless, inspiration struck her. "Well, it was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse," she recited softly. "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their bed, but this time, their names were Edith, Agnes and Margo instead."

Edith smiled widely at the improvisation and Agnes giggled.

"Now, these three children lived in a small, white house, and it was the most beautiful house you have ever seen," Margo described. "The front of the house had a beautiful green lawn and a big flower garden under the window. There were all types of flowers: blue ones, green ones, red ones, yellow ones…"

"Pink ones?" Edith asked.

"And even pink ones," Margo agreed. "And their backyard-"

"Had a unicorn?" Agnes asked hopefully.

Margo laughed. "No, but it had a swimming pool!"

"Really?" Agnes's eyes glowed.

Margo nodded. "But that's not the best part."

"What's the best part?" Edith whispered, scooting closer.

"Well, these three girls were in their bed, waiting for Christmas, just like we are doing now, when their Mom and Dad came in."

Agnes and Edith watched her in awe, barely daring to breathe.

"Their mom had beautiful golden hair that always shimmered in the light. And her eyes were always smiling, especially when she laughed… and her voice; it was the most beautiful thing in the world. It sounded like music to the girls." Margo swallowed as a lonely feeling engulfed her as she imagined the woman. "She was perfect… she never got mad at the girls, not even when they did something bad, because she loved them, and she told them that every day."

"She never got mad?" Edith asked in wonder. "Not even when they broke something?"

Margo shook her head, a mischievous smile on her face. "Nope, not even when the middle child got into a fight," she said as she reached out and tousled Edith's beanie affectionately. Edith swatted her hand away in protest.

Margo continued her story. "And their Dad… he had dark hair and hazel eyes that always sparkled when he laughed. He worked during the day, but he would come home early all the time. And once he put down his suitcase, the three girls would rush to him, and he would pick them all up at once in a warm hug. He wouldn't let them go until their mom came in the room to welcome him home."

"I like this Daddy," Agnes said with a sleepy yawn.

"He was the best Dad in the entire world," Margo assured them. "He was always kind, and laughed all the time. He would play with the girls, and give them piggyback rides..."

Margo remembered, most of all, how he loved to make her laugh. When she was in tears, and nothing could console her, she remembered rushing to her father, knowing he was the only one able to make the world right again. For the story that Margo was telling, every single detail of the mother and father came from her memories. Although her sisters didn't know this, and never would, she was describing her deceased parents.

Margo would give anything to be back in the fairytale she used to live, but this time, she wished to have her sisters with her.

She continued the story, her voice wavering unsteadily. A chill went through her chest, and her throat tightened, making it hard to breathe. "A-and he promised them… he promised her, that she would always be loved."

Suddenly, Margo clutched a hand to her chest as an old aching pain stabbed through her heart. She took in a shaky breath as she shut her eyes tightly, desperately willing the pain away. For that promise made to her had been shattered on the first cold, lonely night she had spent at the orphanage.

"Margo, are you crying?" Agnes asked as she turned to look at her sister.

"N-no," Margo denied stubbornly. She hastily wiped her face, just in case, and was surprised to find her hand was wet. "I'm just tired," she lied. "Maybe… maybe we should go to bed."

"No!"

"No way!"

Both her sister's were staring up at her in hungry desperation.

"Just a tiny bit more!" Agnes begged.

"Yeah, I have to know what happens!"

Margo sighed, smiling slightly. "Okay, a little bit more." She thought for a second before taking a deep breath and continuing. "So, the three girls were lying in bed on Christmas eve. They were almost too excited to sleep! Then, their Mom came into the room and she tucked all three girls snugly into bed and sat down to read them a bedtime story, just like she did every night."

"They get bedtime stories?" Agnes asked amazed.

Margo nodded. "This time, story was called 'The Night before Christmas', and when she read it, it was like she sang the words on the page. Their father came in the room afterwards. He had been leaving milk and cookies out for Santa."

"Santa's coming?" Agnes interrupted again; her eyes wide with excitement.

Margo smirked. "You'll see. Their Mom and Dad told them to have sweet dreams, and then one by one, they gave the girls goodnight kisses and turned out the light."

Her sisters were watching her intensely as they hung on every word.

"Morning came, and they girls wandered out of their bedroom and into the living room. And do you know what they saw?"

Agnes shook her head wordlessly.

"What?" Edith whispered.

"Presents! Under the Christmas tree there were boxes of colorfully wrapped presents!"

Agnes squealed. "Santa did come!"

"That's right! And he left the three girls the toys they've always dreamed of!"

"A unicorn?"

"A super soaker?"

Margo smiled at her sister's excitement. Even Edith was back in the spirit of Christmas. Unfortunately, it was just in time for her hopes to be crushed come morning.

Edith and Agnes began chatting excitedly about the toys they would get and Margo wished more than anything she could have given them something more this year. She had tried to save up with the tiny bit of money that found its way into her possession. One day she found a dollar bill while delivering cookies and she hoped that if she found more she could really buy something for her sisters. Unfortunately, no more money came her way, and now it was too late.

It wouldn't be so bad if her sisters just got _something_. They weren't picky; Margo knew they would be happy with any kind of present. Even a smallest piece of candy on Christmas morning would satisfy Agnes.

Edith was often teased by the girls at the orphanage that if she ever did get a present from Santa, she would get coal. But Margo thought that Edith wouldn't even mind if she did get coal. At least coal was something; at least coal meant someone was thinking of you.

"I like your story, Margo," Agnes complimented.

"Yeah, it was great!"

The three girls lapsed into silence, and Margo noticed their eyes were more distant than usual. She knew they were still thinking of those three little girls in the story who had the life they desperately wanted. Margo wondered if she was doing them a disservice by telling them these perfect stories. The Mom and the Dad in her tale were dead, and they weren't ever coming back. There was no such thing as the perfect parents she talked about, at least, not anymore. She had been feeding her sisters nothing but lies, and they had eaten them up hungrily. But no matter how many times Margo retold this story; she knew her sisters would never be satisfied.

"I can't wait to see Mommy and Daddy!" Agnes announced, wiggling gleefully. "I love them already! More than anything!"

"Yeah," Edith agreed, and then she clung to Margo's side, speaking barely above a whisper, "I love them too…"

"Margo?" Agnes turned around to look up at her with her unguarded eyes "Why haven't they come to get us yet?"

Margo stared down at her sisters and bit her lip. "Agnes, they're not-" Margo broke off. She couldn't tell her the truth; she couldn't tell them how the image that Margo had so vividly painted in their mind would never come true. She couldn't tell them that they loved nothing more than an idea, and that an idea couldn't love them back. And that's when she decided to tell them one more Christmas lie. "Don't worry guys, we'll be adopted soon."

Margo held them tightly. It was almost Christmas, and they deserved more than anyone she knew, to have hope in their heart.

It was the best present she could give them.

As they snuggled together in Edith's warm bed, Margo noticed Agnes had finally drifted off to sleep, and not a few minutes later, Edith did the same. Margo supposed they could sleep together for one night, even though the beds were already small enough without two extra bodies.

Margo found her eyes lids growing heavy, and her sisters' warm bodies were keeping the cool December air from chilling her. With one last tired yawn, Margo took off her glasses. She closed her eyes, knowing that the morning would bring heartache for her sisters that only new lies could sooth.

* * *

Margo opened her eyes to the sound of screaming.

"It's Christmas, Margo! Wake up! It's Christmas!" Agnes was shouting gleefully as she pulled insistently at Margo's covers.

"It's Christmas! Yeah! Get up sleepyhead!" Edith instructed, jumping in excitement. "You can't sleep in on Christmas!"

For a moment, Margo was a bit turned around by the abrupt awakening as she clumsily reached for her glasses.

Once she could see clearly, she cast a glance at her bed, and then around the room before her gaze landed on her sisters. At the sight of their excited expressions, an eager smile began working its way across her lips.

_Christmas. Was it finally, finally Christmas?_

But then Margo's smile faltered; what if… what if it wasn't what her sisters imagined. What if they had set their expectations too high? What if her sisters were devastated and it was all her fault? However, her sister's held no such reservations. Edith yanked her out of her bed and she wobbled groggily on the carpeted floor.

"Race ya!" Edith challenge and the two little girls took off before Margo could call after them.

She hoped they would be careful running downstairs. Those stairs could be perilous.

With some worry, Margo took off after them. She knew where they would be, and headed straight there.

When she arrived, Margo noticed her sisters' forms frozen in the entrance to the room. Worriedly, she called out her sister's names as she approached. Without getting and answer, she peeped into the room where she found-

Her breathe caught in her throat as her eyes landed on the source of her sisters' astonishment.

Next to the crocodile couch was the huge Christmas tree they had helped decorate, however, the base of the Christmas tree was completely obscured. There were almost too many to count.

Margo had never seen so many presents in her life.

The multi-colored packages of different size and shape completely surrounded the tree. They were packed together skillfully in order to conserve as much space as possible. And in the end, there wasn't enough room, and many of the larger packages were littered against the far wall.

"Santa! Santa came!" Agnes squeaked. She was bouncing with excitement, unable to move forward or do anything but simply jump for joy.

Without wasting another precious second, Margo tore her gaze away from the piles of presents to catch the looks on her sister's faces. She wanted to remember this, the first time she witnessed her sisters experiencing Christmas.

"Are any of those for me?" Agnes asked hopefully, staring wide-eyed and the miracle before her.

Margo felt torn between laughing and crying at her sister's question.

Cautiously and with her mouth slightly agape, Edith walked forward. She made it to the tree and leaned over to get a better look at a present. "Hey!" she shouted beaming. "There's one for me!" She examined another present. "And there's one for you too, Margo! And Agnes!"

Margo's throat became dry as she moved forward to get a better look. All the tags she had been able to make out were addressed to one of them. Their father had really outdone himself. Margo hadn't been expecting anything like this, because their Dad didn't really seem interested in the holiday thing. She felt like he had been just putting up with it, letting them do whatever they wanted, and hoping it would end quickly. One or two presents were all she thought to hope for, and mostly for her sisters' sake. She hadn't expected anything like _this._

Agnes and Edith crowded around the presents, chatting excitedly about what each one might be. This time, when Margo heard them talk about presents, she knew they would actually be getting something.

Margo glanced at a particular present with her name on in. It was the right size and shape… but no, it couldn't be; she had only mentioned it to him once.

There was movement out of the corner of her eye, and Margo looked up to see her father in the doorway, watching them. He was wearing his pajamas and affectionate expression graced his features as he watched the girls awe over the sight. When he noticed Margo looking at him, his features melted into an unsure smile.

He walked into the room, still unnoticed by the two younger children.

"Deed I do al'ight?" he asked his oldest daughter quietly. He stood up straighter in an attempt to hide his nervousness. "Eet haz been a long tyme seence I 'ave done dee Chreestmas t'ing… I deedn't know what I waz supposed teh do. I wanted the geeve yoo gurls dee best Chreestmas. I hope eets alryght…"

Margo opened her mouth to speak, but there was nothing that could even describe... she shut her eyes and threw her arms around his middle; burring her head in his stomach.

_Thank you, thank you, thank you! _

_You have no idea what this means to us._

She felt Gru stiffen in surprise at first, but then he bent down and wrapped his arms around her gently.

"Merry Chreestmas, Keetten."

"Daddy!"

"Dad!"

Her sister's had finally noticed their Dad's presents in the room.

He chuckled as they ran to be included in the hug. He caught them all in his arms easily.

"Eet looked like someone haz leeft all dese presents under my tree. I am wondereeng who dey are for?"

Edith was first to break away for the embrace. "Us! They're for us!" she shouted, jumping up and down.

"Reelly?" Their dad asked in fake astonishment.

"Yeah! Us!" Agnes chorused. "Santa brought them, Daddy!"

"Well den… I guess you better open dem!"

The three girls' eyes lit up.

"Okay," Margo began. "But first you have to open yours."

"Oh yeah! Your present!" Edith recalled eagerly. "You're going to love it!"

"My present?" he asked, and the confusion on his face made Margo giggle.

It seemed her and her sisters weren't going to be the only ones surprised this Christmas.

Warm laughter, excited shouts, and unreserved giggles filled the sunlit room.

Miracles are small things.

Like how strangers become sisters,

Christmas lies become truths,

And how a family finally whole, unwraps presents under a pine tree.

**I hope you all liked it! It's not my favorite, but I was in a Christmas mood, and again, no self control when it comes to this movie. Plus, I've always wanted to show the girls in the orphanage dreaming up their perfect family, I've just never had the right motivation before. **

**And Shrine(me) has a recommendation if you're interested. I'm currently beta-ing this fic: Lunch Break and a Can of Worms by QuoteCentric **

**It's on fanfiction so if you have time, definitely check it out! It's very well-written DM fic and it has awesome characters. And once you meet Zoe, you will fall in love, promise! xD**

** Okay, I hope you all have an amazing Christmas, and you will hear from me again very soon! Please Review!**


	7. Author's note

**Author's note**

**Hey guys! Sorry, this is not a chapter! And I'm also sorry I haven't updated this fic in a long while. School got in the way and so did other interests and shows, and since this story is just a collection of one-shots I didn't feel quite so pressured to finish it, because it has no real ending, you know? **

**I wanted to write this up because I wanted to let you guys know what's going on for the future of this fic. Because my writing style has changed a good amount (and I can't read some beginning chapters of this fic without cringing slightly), and because the Despicable Me 2 sequel changed a lot of my head canons that I put in this fic, I probably won't be continuing Despicable Days. If I get a fanfic idea that only fits with the first movie than I will probably post it as a chapter on Despicable Days, but I think most my stuff from here on out will basically fit with the new canon that the sequel gave us. **

**However, some of you might have noticed that I just started a new fic that begins right after the events following the El Macho mission called: Is It Crazy You Think I've Gone? It's much more than just about Gru and Lucy, it's about the girls too and their relationship with their father. It's also about Lucy learning about the events of the first movie, and learning about how Gru might not have always been the loving father he is now. I think a lot of the scenes will be similar to things I would put in Despicable Days, so I hope you guys will check it out.**

**Also, I know a while back I promised you guys a grown up Edith fic that I never delivered. Trust me, I have been working on it and working on it… It has gotten so long that I was planning on publishing it as a separate story instead of a chapter of Despicable Days. However, you have to be patient with me with this one, since I still need to finish it, and now I also need to tweak it a bit, since the second movie changed a few things.**

**Alright, that's all I wanted to say! Thank you all so much for all the support you have given me with this story, and I hope you enjoy my other DM stories. I hope none of you are too disappointed, and I hope my new stories will make up for this. I'm back in the fandom for a while, so I will be doing a lot of writing!**


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